Ways_of_Knowing

No one person on the planet is the same, which therefore means every single person’s mind will work differently. We all ‘know’ certain things to be true but how do we find a point where the belief of a certain statement or supposed fact can be seen or understood by all' Do different ways of finding the truth give more precise answers' Truth is fundamental but there are different approaches to finding it. Truth is ‘a proven or verified statement’ , a definition that is widely known as the meaning of truth. But is this the case' An empiricist believes that all knowledge is derived from the experience of the person who believes a statement. In this case a person who has not seen first hand the said belief can not believe it to be true. A key example of this involves a tree falling in the forest when there is nobody around to hear it. Does that tree make a noise' We, as intellectual beings, know that a tree makes a noise if it falls if we are there to listen to it. An empiricist will state that no noise is made when it falls on it own as nobody is there to hear first hand the noise supposedly made by the tree. There will be no certainty that the tree makes a noise as there is no-one there to prove this. Empiricism follows the view that reason is not confirmed unless the believer has seen the experience themselves. This also includes the passing on of information. If I were to tell someone I was wearing a red top they would not believe that to be true unless they have seen it in the flesh. ‘a posteriori’ refers to truths known after experiences, a subjective view which changes from person to person. All hypotheses and theories must be tested against things in the natural world that are known to man in order to prove they are the truth. This way of knowing ensures a definite answer is given to the seeker and gives them proof and justification that the statement is true. On the other hand a rationalist believes that reason is the source of all knowledge. Rationalism uses the fact that we can see truth automatically; it is an objective view that is always the same, even if the circumstances change. Using the same example of a falling tree falling in the forest when there is no-one around, a rationalist would state that the tree would make a sound as the situation does not change from when a person would hear it fall. We know that the tree has made a sound in the same situation in the past, so in this situation it will also do so. ‘a priori’ refers to the fact that we know the truths of nature before we have had any experience of them. An example of this is the weather. We know that snow is cold as we have been told so by others so we therefore believe this, whether it actually is will be another matter, but a rationalist will say it is cold as I have been told that so even without experience I know it will be cold. This way of knowing can be misleading as if a group of people believe the same thing and tell others who are rationalist they too may also believe it, even if it is as far from the truth as possible. This method of finding the truth is also incorporated with deductive and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning involves deducting the reason from the facts that are given to you. This means if a premise is true then the conclusion must also be true but if the premise is false then the conclusion can not be true and then the argument will become invalid. This method of reasoning can easily be contradicted; if you deny the conclusion when the premises are true then you are contradicting yourself as when the premises are true the conclusion must also be. This links with rationalism as it uses facts we are given as humans to try and find the truth (an answer) and does not use any experience of the matter in real life terms. Inductive reasoning uses the belief that experience will help to find the truth. It tells us that if all the premises we know are true then the conclusions may still be false. This means that because we have not experienced something we can not be one hundred percent sure it is the truth. This link is based on probability, reason to believe and assumption which are not solid facts so when using this type of reasoning, what we have been told may not leas to the truth.