Epistemology is one of the branches of philosophy that considers the theory of knowledge. Famous philosophers - Plato, I. Kant, R. Descartes, G. Hegel and others - made their contribution to epistemology.
What gnoseology considers
The main problem of epistemology is the search for the meaning of what is happening and the truth. Also, science studies knowledge as a whole - its forms, essence, theories and methods. Within the framework of epistemology, religion, art and science are considered, as well as the phenomena of experience, ideology and common sense. The main question of this section - is it possible to know the world in principle? Several epistemological directions are distinguished depending on the answers. In their research, philosophers operate with the concepts of "mind", "truth", "feelings", "intuition", "consciousness". Depending on beliefs, epistemologists prioritize sensory, rational or irrational cognition - intuition, imagination, etc.
Features of epistemology
This philosophical discipline is very critical. First of all, she examines the relationship between illusion and reality and criticizes the possibilities of cognition. Criticism manifests itself in the substantiation of any direction of epistemology, opposing the subjective ideas about the world to common sense. Another feature of epistemology is normativeism. Philosophy implies the presence of some fundamental knowledge that determines all the norms of human knowledge. For various areas of epistemology, the basis can be an experiment, a formula or an ideal model. The next feature is subject-centrism. All currents of this section have in common the presence of a subject of cognition. All differences in philosophical teachings are based on how this subject perceives the picture of the world.
Another feature of epistemology is sciencecentrism. This branch of philosophy unconditionally accepts the importance of science and conducts its research strictly following scientific facts.
The newest epistemology departs from the classical framework and is characterized by post-criticism, object-centrism and antiscientificism.
The main directions of epistemology
Among the most famous epistemological teachings are skepticism, agnosticism, rationalism, sensationalism and transcendentalism. Skepticism is one of the earliest trends. Skeptics believe that the main instrument of knowledge is doubt. Agnosticism is also found in antiquity, but it finally took shape by the new time.
The first philosopher to consider the problems of epistemology was Parmenides, who lived in Ancient Greece in the 6-5th centuries BC.
Agnostics deny the possibility of knowledge in principle, since subjectivism interferes with an objective understanding of truth. The term "rationalism" was founded by R. Descartes and B. Spinoza. They called reason and common sense a tool for cognizing reality. Sensualism, developed by F. Bacon, on the contrary, was based on cognition through feelings. Transcendentalism was created, guided by R. Emerson's essay "Nature". The teaching preached knowledge through intuition and merging with nature.