Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 Epistemology: How do we know? Excerpted Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 By Steve Badger

Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 What is knowledge? 1.Opinion plus evidence equals knowledge 2.Opinion plus probability equals knowledge 3.Observation equals knowledge 4.Knowledge equals opinions that one has a duty to accept 5.Knowledge is equated with the right to be sure 6.Opinion requires no plus to be knowledge

Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 What is knowledge? “To know means that a person accepts a true proposition to be right or correct for “the best of reasons.” (10) “The man who knows must not be guessing, he must not hit on the truth by chance, he must not relly on bad reasons if he relied on reasons at all.” (10)

Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 What is knowledge? “Knowing involves two different kinds of experiences: (1) direct experience, sometimes called the directly evident, and (2) reason processes, sometimes called the indirectly evident.” (10) Is knowledge possible?

Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 Ways to Knowledge 1.Testimony (authority) 2.The physical senses 3.Reason 4.Phenomenology (essences) 5.Self-revelation 6.Intuition 7.Apprenticeship (pp.9-22)

Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 Verification Principle A J Ayer ( ) For a statement to be meaningful (true) it must be either 1) purely definitional or else 2) verifiable by onor of more of the five senses. All other statements (ethical, theological, metaphysical) are nonsense or meaningless. Logical Positivism Self-refuting

Excerpted from Dallas Roark’s Introduction to Philosophy, 1982 Falsification Principle Anthony Flew and Karl Popper Any statement or proposition is meaningless unless it is subject to falsification (at least in principle) Flew used it to challenge a belief in God Self-refuting But Flew recently changed his mind…