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Open Theism Discussion Board > Public Forums > Theological Q&A > (No Subject)
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bryan mccarthy
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 179
| Posted 3/5/2005 7:14 PM (GMT -6) |   | | I've been motivated (mostly by dialoguing on this board) to get my terminology fine-tuned (hence my LFW thread). My newest inquiry is epistemology and ontology. While I have a rough conception of the meaning of these terms, I'd like something a bit more full. Perhaps Ross could drop by on this one? Others as well. Thoroughness/Exhaustiveness is key here (but try not to make excruciatingly long replys - those are so hard to read). So far as I can tell, epistemology, deals with finding out how we know whether something is true or not apart from "blind" assention, that is, kierkagaard's irrational but necessary "leap" of faith. Ontology, then, and this I'm fuzzier on, seems to concern itself with rendering coherent the things we cannot know? Is this about right? Can you correct and expand on this?
Also, how do these interact with axiology, which is, near as I can see, the science of determining what we do with what we get from epistemology and ontology?
Thanks guys,
Bryan Post Edited (Bryan McCarthy) : 3/6/2005 8:34:59 AM (GMT-6) | | Back to Top | | |
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Corey
Five with a Four-wing
Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 1893
| Posted 3/5/2005 10:25 PM (GMT -6) | | My short answer is something like this:
ontology: the study of the nature of things (What is reality?)
epistemology: the study of knowledge itself (What constitutes knowledge about reality? or... how do I really know that I know what I think I know?  ) | | Back to Top | | |
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bryan mccarthy
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 179
| Posted 3/6/2005 9:40 AM (GMT -6) | | So Corey, in other words...
"what is reality?" and then, "how do I know that my answer to that question is correct?" ? Or is the second one more like "how do i know that I ACTUALLY know what I think I know as the answer answer to that question ("that question" being, "what is reality?")?" ?
Wow. Shouldn't this be more simple?
Bryan
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bryan mccarthy
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 179
| Posted 3/6/2005 9:41 AM (GMT -6) | | Wow, that was quick, Meph. Thanks, I'm goin' there now.
Bryan | | Back to Top | | |
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bryan mccarthy
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 179
| Posted 3/6/2005 10:36 AM (GMT -6) | | Okay, so to summarize the article, David is basically saying that epistemology concerns itself with insuring that what we know is as harmonious with the actual content of reality (i.e., it is as true) as possible by way of finding as much truth as possible and avoiding as much error as possible. And in order for something to count as something we know as true, it must in fact BE true as well as believed by us to be true and grounded in a virtuous (e.g., honest and courageous) search for it by us. Do I have all of this right?
Bryan | | Back to Top | | |
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bryan mccarthy
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 179
| Posted 3/6/2005 10:37 AM (GMT -6) | | So then, how does this differ from ontology?
Bryan | | Back to Top | | |
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One Love
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 3/6/2005 11:00 AM (GMT -6) | | Bryan:
Okay, so to summarize the article, David is basically saying that epistemology concerns itself with insuring that what we know is as harmonious with the actual content of reality (i.e., it is as true) as possible by way of finding as much truth as possible and avoiding as much error as possible. And in order for something to count as something we know as true, it must in fact BE true as well as believed by us to be true and grounded in a virtuous (e.g., honest and courageous) search for it by us. Do I have all of this right?
Pretty much. I liked this article a lot.
As far as the formal distinction between ontology and epistemology. Ontology deals with the NATURE of things, objects and the relationships. When I say "objects", I mean things like concrete/abstract, necessary/contingent, real/ideal, etc. As you can probably already see, this is distinct from what Clark and Beilby were talking about.
Ontology deals with conceptualization about what IS.
the nature of reality. (Ontology is the primary domain of METAPHYSICS)
Epistemology deals with what we KNOW (or think we know) about what is...and how we can (or cannot) know those things.
Some stuff...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology
Hope this will be more clear for ya. 
"I've been converted three times. The first was to traditional Christianity; the second to honesty and the third was to the Love of God and man (humanity) The third was the real conversion. The first two were preliminary."
--Nels Ferre, a theologian speaking of his spiritual journey with the Triune God
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rossfadeinout
Registered Member
Date Joined Oct 2002
Total Posts : 428
| Posted 3/7/2005 10:24 AM (GMT -6) | | | Bryan,
Looks like you have already got the answers that you were looking for. Dr. Stuart Hackett in his book Rediscovery of the Highest Good says that philosophy concerns itself with three things --
1) logic and epistemology (the study of how do we know what we know)
2) metaphysics or ontology (the study of reality and being)
3) axiology and ethics (the study of value)
Now if you really want to bewilder yourself, you could check out all the schools of thought concerning each of these fields....
"Let us remember how common the folly is of going from one faulty extreme into the opposite." -Thomas Reid | | Back to Top | | |
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