Philosophical knowledge and its characteristics – all about epistemology

Philosophical knowledge, also called epistemology, is based on the recursive capacity of the human being (the ability we have to reflect on previous reflections) that is, philosophical knowledge is considered the science that studies the same knowledge.

It is called 2nd order because it takes as its object of study certain areas of knowledge provided by other disciplines and constitutes categories to analyze that knowledge. Do you want to know more about philosophical knowledge and its characteristics? Then we recommend that you continue reading this Psychology-Online article.

What is philosophical knowledge?

We define philosophical knowledge as one of the most important branches of philosophy. It is aimed at exploring the way we reason and question different philosophical principles and thinking in general. They do not do scientific research, their reflections and meta-scientific analyzes Their purpose is to delimit and define the method that Science must use, its possible study contents, and its language.

Knowledge according to philosophy

How is knowledge created? That is one of the first questions that epistemology asks, according to philosophy, we create knowledge through reasoning, observation of phenomena and reflection. In psychology we closely relate philosophical knowledge to our discipline since it tries to find out the origins of human thought and how they are created. ideas through experience.

Types of philosophical knowledge

Before defining the characteristics of philosophical knowledge, it is important to comment that there are other ways in which it has developed over the centuries and that today we can define various types of philosophical knowledge. Among them, we highlight the following:

  1. Philosophical knowledge empirical: It is defined as the knowledge that provides data and statements through experience and the real verification of a phenomenon or hypothesis.
  2. Philosophical knowledge scientist: This type of philosophical knowledge includes a whole set of theories, statements and contributions to society whose common characteristic is observation, analysis, experimentation and the study of everything that surrounds us.
  3. Philosophical knowledge theological: refers to the knowledge and study of religions and spirituality
  4. Philosophical knowledge pure or epistemology: the knowledge that studies thought itself and the genesis of ideas. Also known as “the science of knowledge”

Characteristics of philosophical knowledge

As we have mentioned before, philosophical knowledge comprises a large number of studies, statements and hypotheses, the main characteristics lie in their methodological issues.

  • Purpose: Delimit the guidelines that should guide scientific work. Strategies for contrasting (They are contrastable if a favorable or unfavorable judgment can be given for said statement.)

Issues Methodologies of Philosophical Knowledge

Logical Positivism. Check. A statement is verifiable if it can be empirically proven that it is a true statement. The problem is that at least some new case can always appear that would falsify the hypothesis. The truth of a universal statement cannot be concluded from the truth of a particular statement. (Vienna Circle)

Logical Empiricism. Confirmation. The data that we can find in experience are either favorable to the hypothesis and support it (probably true) or are unfavorable (probably false). (Vienna Circle) Disadvantages: We can only be relatively sure of it, because there may be data that we have not found and that does not fit the hypothesis. We move in the field of probability. The statements are presented provisionally.

The falsification. It is the one with the greatest recognition. It consists of searching for data that goes against our hypothesis and refutes it, because the moment one is found, it can be concluded that the hypothesis is false. From the falsity of a particular statement one can conclude the falsity of the universal statement. (Popper) Disadvantages:

  • It can be very complicated and expensive.
  • It could lead to the cessation of the investigation
  • Advantages: It is very powerful.

Ontological and logical-semantic issues

Ontological Issues: What types of categories should be used to analyze scientific changes. (5). Lakatos (1983). Science and its advancement are due to research programs. Research programs are made up of: A core: A set of fundamental principles that are unquestionable for those who undertake said research program. Some methodological rules:

  • Negative heuristic. Lines of research that should be avoided in order to protect the core. Positive heuristic. The lines of research to follow, as well as possible solutions to the difficulties that arise in the program.
  • As a research program it is the study of the ER relationship through experimental methodology and behavior modification techniques.

Logical-semantic issues: Instrument that should be used to conceptually analyze theories. Traditionally, formal methods have been used. There are supporters of logical analysis as the only conceptual instrument to those who reject it.

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