Pragmatism and Feminist Epistemology

"Pragmatism and Feminist Epistemology both challenge the view of knowledge as a detached, intellectual activity. Do you think they are right? How do you think we should think about knowledge? Now that we have concluded the section on epistemology, write about what kind of thing you think knowledge is."

I honestly can't say whether or not I believe that their beliefs are right, however I can say that I agree with some of their points. I think that we should always search for something more within knowledge because I think that knowledge is never ending. Like Dewey, I believe that "warranted assertibility" reflects knowledge because the world changes everyday and the things that we experience will change along with the world. I also believe that experience plays a huge part in determining "truth". I think that as human beings, knowledge is what helps our minds expand intellectually and creatively.

Immanuel Kant

This weeks reading on Immanuel Kant's theories were very interesting. What I found most interesting about Kant's theory was that it was a mix of rationalism and empiricism. I found that I was able to understand his theory a bit better and even agree with knowledge being composed of reason as well as experience rather than each itself. I also enjoyed the bit about God. Kant said that although we can't have rational knowledge of God, he found a way to deny knowledge of him in order to make room for faith. I feel like this is something that many religious people seem to do for their faith in their God and religion.

One other bit of the reading that I really enjoyed was John Locke on the possibility of knowledge. The example that caught my attention most was when Lawhead explains how Locke believed that the mind could not create new simple ideas if the idea had not been experienced before. "A dictionary will define yellow as the color of a ripe lemon". This part intrigued me so much because I tried to think of a way to describe the color yellow without referring to any past elements or experiences and I could not think of anything!

Confused...

I found this week's topic on Skepticism and Rationalism a bit confusing and unclear. The parts with methodological skepticism was especially confusing for me. I did, however find rationalism very interesting because I feel like many people tend to use reason as a way to prove or disprove beliefs. I am definitely going to have to re-read the chapter as well as re-watch the lecture in order to get a better and clearer understanding of these concepts.

Philosophy should be liberating!

"In the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates suggests that, without philosophical education, we are all like the prisoners in the cave. What are your thoughts on this? How is philosophy supposed to be liberating? Do you think Socrates is right to be so pessimistic about life without philosophy?"

I am going to have to agree with Socrates that without philosophical education we are like the prisoners from the Allegory of the Cave. Philosophy is liberating because it challenges our minds to think outside of the norm. I believe that depending on the person, a mind can either build something brilliant or destroy it. Philosophy allows us to feel like we as human beings matter in this world. Ignorance of that would take away our opportunities to make something of ourselves. I believe that Socrates was right to be pessimistic about life without philosophy but he could have went about it in a different way. I do admire that he felt so strongly about his beliefs that he was willing to die rather than retract his beliefs and live.