Washington 1

JaMariauna Washington
Philosophy, period 1
Buescher
9/28/15
Epistemology: On Demand Essay
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge . The major problem people have with
Epistemology is deciding whether knowledge is based off of rational thoughts (which states that
people base their actions on knowledge and reason) , or empiricism ( which is based off of
experience). Also, skepticism is another idea of knowledge. Skepticism happens to be the most
interesting genre of knowledge, stating that people actually do not know anything. As a
philosophy student, one might begin to even question if they are actually alive, or in an actual
school building. However, it is through empiricism that a person knows where, who, and what
they are.
Empiricism is what most scientists claim as their knowledge. Knowledge can only be
gained, if at all, by experience. The human population go off of what scientists say about the
earth, moon and the stars which makes everyone an empirical believer by default. It is through
experiment and experience that a scientist gets what he or she feels is the reason for their theory.
Everyone has a bit of empirical knowledge within them. If their was a dog running towards a
person, a persons natural instinct is to run because they have been bitten by a dog prior . A
person does not automatically know to run from a dog because owners tend to use the term oh
he doesnt bite. One might say that peoples evidence or experience can be false, which is true,
but from many of these hypotheses proved false comes another form of evidence which isagain- based on experience.

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Not even adam or eve knew what or who they were. Adam and eve are the real definition
of empirical knowledge . Neither one of them knew what they looked like and where they were
until they ate from the tree of knowledge. It was through experience that they knew they were
naked and that they were the only humans on earth. As humans, we know the difference
between good and bad. With the prior statement, everyones idea of what is good and bad comes
from experience. Humans only feel that something is good or bad due to consequences they
experience or see others experience. People base many of their thoughts and decisions on what
they experience will or can happen to them due to their actions. A rationalist might say that
Adam and Eve already knew that they were naked and that the tree was bad, but Adam and Eve
were clearly told by God that they shouldnt eat from the tree and it was through experience that
they learned why the both of them werent suppose to eat from the tree (which was solely
because it was a simple command) . This is why Christians are aware of what good and bad is .
In the court, an eyewitness statement is a form of empiricism. Eyewitnesses are people
who were at the scene or situation and are able to make a statement on what was seen from their
eyes. Sometimes witnesses witness something that has dramatically influenced their lives. In a
serious situation, it is easy to understand how a witness can forget what happened because of the
outcome of what happened after. The three stages an eyewitnesses go through are suppose to
force them to remember everything and state everything they experienced about the situation.
Eyewitnesses are a form of empiricism, because it is something someone is experiencing and can
testify to seeing. Eyewitnesses sometimes can make up lies hoping to save someone and
eyewitnesses can become more rational than empirical. However, it is only rational because it is
what that eyewitness feels should ( rather than what they really experienced) have happened in
order to protect a friend, or family.

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Empiricism is the reason people know what their names are, what their culture is , who
their mother is, and why they should do wrong or right. Babies are not born with the knowledge
of who their mother is or what kind of environment they will live in. It is through experience of
hearing their mother's voice and seeing her face that they become prone to their mother.
Empirical thinker seem to have more common sense do to experience while rationalists only do
what they think has to happen.