The Advancement of Epistemology by Plato and Aristotle

Epistemology

• is defined as the study of knowledge

The Advancement of Epistemology by Plato and Aristotle

The Study of the Chicken Embryo

Plato (428-347 B.C.)

• “Meanwhile the yolk comes into being… and, the heart appears, like a speck of blood, in the white of the egg. This point beats and moves as though endowed with life.”
• Aristotle was more concerned primary about knowledge coming from human observation and study of nature.
• Would argue that what is observed in nature is the truest form.
• There is no realm of forms since it is unobservable.

Aristotle (384- 322 B.C.)

• Was a philosopher who studied under Socrates
• Originally studied politics.
• Focused on philosophy after the execution of Socrates.
• Formed the Academy in Greece, as a location for others to study philosophy.
• The Socratic Method was the backbone of Plato's teachings.

• A student of Plato.
• Like Plato opened up a place of study called the Lyceum.
• Shows a shift from knowledge being based off of assumption, to being based off of human interaction and observations in nature.
• Influenced the creation of the Scientific Method

The Result of Aristotle's Teaching

• Works were forgotten until the late Medieval Ages.
• Helped in the shift from the Medieval period to the Renaissance period.
• Aristotelian philosophy would become the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church

The Socratic Method

The Allegory of the Cave

• In Plato's The Republic.
• Displays Plato's belief that true knowledge is only obtainable through philosophy.
• Has a sort of mystic quality. Meaning it does not rely on human observation or nature.

• is “the aim to reveal eternal principles of human conduct, upon which personal happiness and social stability depend. This means of truth-seeking, the action of mind upon mind is called dialectic. It assumes that real truth is there to be found through honest and systematic intellectual arguments.”
• Asking questions in order to find a solution.

The Scientific Revolution

• Focus on nature, ultimately led to the creation of the scientific method by Sir Francis Bacon during the Renaissance period.
• Novum Organum
• This method involved the collection of data, their judicious interpretation, the carrying out of experiments, thus to learn the secrets of nature by organized observation of its regularities.