The Four Theories Of Epistemology

Epistemology can be simply defined as the study of knowledge and justified truth. Throughout this semester I was introduced to each of the different theories of epistemology and how they apply to different people’s lives. Epistemology involves a numerous amount of theories, but four of the theories in particular caught my attention. The four theories that I was able to directly and indirectly analyze were: the correspondence theory, nihilism, empiricism, and relativism. Each of these theories differ in many ways but, all have a solid explanation as to why they view truth and knowledge in life the way that they do. Although I agree and can better relate to only one of the epistemological theories, I was able to clearly understand the views of …show more content…
It also depends on the different standards that are right and wrong depending on a culture. This theory seems to be a really common one in my opinion because cultures differ all over the world in some of the most extreme ways. Each relativistic view is based on traditionalistic beliefs. For example, slavery is commonly used in some counties while other countries, like the United States, it is unconstitutional and morally long. Relativism involves many different types of views, especially in the United States, because we are such a diverse country as far as both culture and religion go. Relativism uses the question “What ought I to do?” This question is referring to what my society or culture thinks I ought to do, rather than having personal opinions. I personally disagree with the relativism question because they should be asking them self “what do I want to do?” This theory believes that you should always ultimately put your culture or society’s wants and desires before your own. This can result in one lacking individuality in many circumstances. The main weakness of relativism is that it can force someone to live a life that they do not actually agree with nor want for …show more content…
Empiricism is the view that your knowledge is based on experiences, observations and perception (Monton). Without these everyday experience, knowledge would be impossible. This epistemological theory is the most convincing theory to me, because we learn very valuable lessons from the biggest too little experiences. By learning from experiences, we are able to better understand knowledge, justify truth, and create a self-explanation when reasoning with truth. Empiricism gives reasoning because by experiencing something you are able to understand truth first hand. If you are actually able to observe something by experiencing it, you will know it must be true because you experienced it yourself. This theory provides a sense of self-relief for me because if I was able to experience it, then I must be able to confirm that it is indeed true. If we did not experience, we would never actually learn or be able to justify truth. The best way to prove or understand something in life is by simply experiencing it