Jump to content

Problem of the criterion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Chiswick Chap (talk | contribs) at 07:52, 16 September 2016 (add ref - feel free to work this up into a list of refs by Chisholm, Amico, Fumerton, Cling, DePaul, Poston). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In the field of epistemology, the problem of the criterion is an issue regarding the starting point of knowledge. This is a separate and more fundamental issue than the regress argument found in discussions on justification of knowledge.[1]

American philosopher Roderick M. Chisholm in his Theory of Knowledge details the problem of the criterion with two sets of questions:

1. What do we know? or What is the extent of our knowledge?

2. How do we know? or What is the criterion of knowing?

An answer to either set of questions will allow us to devise a means of answering the other. Answering the former question set first is called particularism, whereas answering the latter set first is called methodism. A third solution, found untenable by many philosophers[citation needed] for its inadequacy to give explanation is skepticism. A skeptic will proclaim that since one cannot have an answer to the first set of questions without first answering the second set, and one cannot hope to answer the second set of questions without first knowing the answers to the first set, we are, therefore, unable to answer either. This has the result of our being unable to justify any of our beliefs.

Particularist theories organize things already known and attempt to use these particulars of knowledge to find a method of how we know, thus answering the second question set. Methodist theories propose an answer to question set two and proceed to use this to establish what we, in fact, know. Classical empiricism embraces the Methodist approach.

See also

Meno's paradox

Notes

  1. ^ the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy devotes a whole article to the topic, with 51 citations. Those include papers not only by Chisholm but one by Amico and one by Fumerton both with the same title, one by Cling "Posing the Problem of the Criterion", DePaul's "The Problem of the Criterion and Coherence Methods in Ethics", and one by Poston "Explanationist Plasticity & The Problem of the Criterion".

References

  • "Problem of the criterion". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. – lists multiple sources by other philosophers


Stub icon

This article about epistemology is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Problem_of_the_criterion&oldid=739679133"