Analyzing My Philosophy of Epistemology
Philosophers from the 13th to the 16th century all believed in the concept that the Earth was flat, yet today we know that it is round. Belief in knowledge being absolute invites the possibility of error and misjudged truths. It is due to this that my philosophy of epistemology revolves around the concept that not all we know and what we gain is actually what we should know and we must gain.
For me, knowledge can be gained in any number of ways, through books, the internet and even word of mouth. To believe all that we hear and read is a foolish concept we should never commit to one particular concept but rather assuming all that we know is false till it is proven
Examples where this philosophy makes sense
In my experiences, people have always tried to appear smart by using words, facts, and phrase that seem to be the truth but are not, worse, yet some knowingly do this to either appear smarter than they are or prove a point using a wrong set of made up facts. I have seen it all the time in class lectures, debates, and more seriously in what people are trying to influence me to believe.
It is due to this that I always tend to believe people only when I have determined that what they say is the truth through personal research and investigation. A person should never assume that what another is saying is the truth despite the other person being a friend because they could have also been lied to.
What alternative philosophies in this area do I reject and what are my reasons for rejecting them?
One of the alternative philosophies in this area I do not quite agree with in epistemology is the concept of idealism that states that some forms of knowledge are innate. I believe that anything that is classified as knowledge should be something that a person can draw on immediately. Innate knowledge is something which occurs only once in a while and cannot be drawn upon through choice.
Knowledge is something to be acquired and learned over time; its value lies in the information it can impart when it is needed. It should not be considered unreliable or at best rarely accessible since this cannot be considered similar to the forms of knowledge that I know of today.
How understanding this about myself will help me in the future
Based on what I have stated so far it has come to my attention that philosophy in life has one major flaw, namely the fact that it encourages me to not trust anyone at all. A philosophy that does not believe all facts as they come would create an individual that would automatically assume that whoever they are talking to would be lying to them.
When confronted by an individual that states that he/she does not trust what they say at all most people will react negatively if at times violently despite the possibility of them lying. As such, I have learned that it would always be best to keep your own opinions to yourself while just smiling and nodding at people all the while never truly believing the entirety of what they say yet never revealing that you do not trust them for the sake of social conformity.