Essay On Epicurean Epistemology

Epicurean Epistemology
In this paper, I am going to explain and give my opinions on Epicurean epistemology. The main points that I will touch upon in this paper will be the Epicurean belief that all sense are one-hundred percent true and the three criteria of truth given by Epicurean epistemologist. Overall, I feel as though the Epicureans do a good job supporting their arguments, and I do think that what they are saying makes a lot of sense. After I explain the arguments given for their beliefs I will explain why I think that is the case.
Epicurus, the originator of the Epicurean ideals, largely believes that our senses always tell the truth. This is different from what other philosophers at the time believed. Many believed that our senses could rarely be trusted to depict reality. This is due to the fact that things can often be distorted and some senses such as taste and touch are completely relative. Epicurus backs up his claim by disproving the argument that all senses are false. He does this by claiming that living a life believing that your senses are always wrong is completely unsustainable. Epicurus also claims that there is no way to know the difference between knowing something and not knowing something without being able to trust your senses. There would have to be some other way to tell what is true other than the use of senses. Even after the argument that all senses are false is disproven, an …show more content…
Epicurus has me convinced that all senses are, in fact, true. Even though they may not be showing exactly how the world is, the senses are not giving our minds false information. Going into this paper I was not sure that I agreed with what the Epicureans were saying or not. But after diving deeper into Epicurus’ belief that the senses are always telling the truth and his three criteria of truth I was convinced that he is right. And that, I suppose, is what makes an argument a good