Introduction
Epistemology is the study of the nature and the extent of human knowledge. Etymologically, the word originated from the Greek word 'episteme' meaning 'knowledge.' Discourse on epistemology could be traced back during the time of Plato. Western philosophers, from then on, have engaged themselves in epistemological questions and came out with different “theories of knowledge.”
There are different kinds of knowledge, but the main focus of epistemology is on facts, knowledge of facts. And factual knowledge occurs when a belief is justified. Thus, the central question for the epistemologists is “what makes mere belief into knowledge?” There are diverse answers to this epistemological question, and some are even in conflict with each other.
The scope of our conversation covers the questions on what knowledge is. To what extent can we claim any knowledge? What are the conditions that would constitute this claim? If there is knowledge at all, what is its nature? How and why? What limits human knowledge? These are basic questions that we will attempt to answer in the progress of our discourse.
The question on the nature of knowledge may be broad, but the answer to such question is important. Historically, most philosophers have been investigating it in order to determine whether we as humans are in possession of it. Is knowledge applicable to non-human animals, or machines (computers)? To answer such question will certainly imply ones understanding of the nature of human knowledge itself. For instance, if to know implies a certain capacity for understanding, then understanding is an essential component of knowledge.
Western epistemologists have made a distinction between knowledge and mere opinion. Traditionally, philosophers have held that strength of evidence constitutes the difference between knowledge and true opinion. And so the focus of most of Western epistemology has been on the study of evidence. What constitutes strong evidence? The answer to this question is one of the main concerns of this conversation.
History of philosophy provides us different questions and answers regarding human knowledge. We will elaborate these as we unfold the historical development of the different theories of knowledge. Perhaps it is time to look at this and other basic problems of philosophy from a fresh perspective.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
METAPHYSICS (NDMU Undergraduate Students)
INTODUCTION:
The history of philosophy tells us about the rise and fall of metaphysics. To date, metaphysics is facing new challenges. Plurality rather than unity, change rather than sameness mark the consciousness of our postmodern time. Becoming rather than permanence is paramount. There is a marked emphasis on appearances or the phenomenon rather than the reality beneath. This has led to a failure to penetrate the depths of the "there is."
The positivistic view of language, which operates on the principle of verifiability, has dominated the scientific disciplines.[1] That is why the metaphysical consideration on the investigation of reality has become captive of the positivistic view of language. To a postmodern mind, Metaphysics, perceived as meta-narrative, turns out to be useless and even oppressive.
To some, metaphysics has become an opium, because it diverts the human intelligence from the relevant human problems. It has become "useless to pursue, and ultimately dead as a cultural presence."[2] Such was the pronouncements that come out of Paris by the French deconstruction.[3]
We cannot deny some value of these changes and the plurality of the phenomena that have preoccupied scientific research. However, there is still the need to continually penetrate and dig into the profundity and immense richness of the “there is” (il y a), the indeterminate unity of being. There is still validity in our attempt to answer the question of ultimacy in human existence. We still have to deal with the ultimate underlying principles. And this is, in the main, the task of metaphysics – to unveil the implicit to explicit.
[1] Logical positivism has influenced the empirical scientific disciplines. The Vienna Circle became the leading group whose work was mainly based on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus of Ludwig Wittgenstein. However, recently, there is already new understanding to scientific research, which is slowly departing from logical positivistic view of science. (This is elaborated in detail in philosophy of science course.)
[2] William Desmond & Joseph Grance, ed., Being and Dialectic, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2000, p. vii.
[3] Ibid. p. vii
The history of philosophy tells us about the rise and fall of metaphysics. To date, metaphysics is facing new challenges. Plurality rather than unity, change rather than sameness mark the consciousness of our postmodern time. Becoming rather than permanence is paramount. There is a marked emphasis on appearances or the phenomenon rather than the reality beneath. This has led to a failure to penetrate the depths of the "there is."
The positivistic view of language, which operates on the principle of verifiability, has dominated the scientific disciplines.[1] That is why the metaphysical consideration on the investigation of reality has become captive of the positivistic view of language. To a postmodern mind, Metaphysics, perceived as meta-narrative, turns out to be useless and even oppressive.
To some, metaphysics has become an opium, because it diverts the human intelligence from the relevant human problems. It has become "useless to pursue, and ultimately dead as a cultural presence."[2] Such was the pronouncements that come out of Paris by the French deconstruction.[3]
We cannot deny some value of these changes and the plurality of the phenomena that have preoccupied scientific research. However, there is still the need to continually penetrate and dig into the profundity and immense richness of the “there is” (il y a), the indeterminate unity of being. There is still validity in our attempt to answer the question of ultimacy in human existence. We still have to deal with the ultimate underlying principles. And this is, in the main, the task of metaphysics – to unveil the implicit to explicit.
[1] Logical positivism has influenced the empirical scientific disciplines. The Vienna Circle became the leading group whose work was mainly based on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus of Ludwig Wittgenstein. However, recently, there is already new understanding to scientific research, which is slowly departing from logical positivistic view of science. (This is elaborated in detail in philosophy of science course.)
[2] William Desmond & Joseph Grance, ed., Being and Dialectic, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2000, p. vii.
[3] Ibid. p. vii
Friday, March 24, 2006
Homily to NDMU Graduates 2003
Good Morning.
Let me begin by congratulating ourselves - the graduates, the parents, the teachers and the administrators of the NDMU for the job well done. I believe that we deserve it, considering the difficult problems and challenges that we had to face this school year. There is the no-ending problem of economic burden that gets heavier on our shoulders every year. And there is the terror of bombings that constantly threatens our lives. Yet, in spite of all these, we survive the school year and emerge ourselves, especially the graduates, victorious. So, congratulations to all of us.
This morning, as we come together, we celebrate with mixed feelings: the feelings of thanksgiving, anxiety, faith and hope. There is the feeling of thanks, because for you, graduates, your graduation is not only earning a university degree, but because you have imbibed the human and Christian values of your Alma Mater that make you a better human being, a more responsible person. Values that shall accompany you as you carve your future in the real world.
Definitely, this feeling of thanks is shared by your parents, because they look at you as the living fruits of their inestimable sacrifices. No doubt, the same feeling is also shared by your dedicated teachers and administrators, because you have allowed them to accompany you in realizing your dreams. They have become a significant part of your life.
However, as we celebrate this feeling of thanksgiving, that we all share, we cannot help but feel anxious. Perhaps, for the graduates, the feeling of anxiety is not much the prospects of landing on a job, but because, day by day, our world has become a very dangerous world to live in. Our dream of a peaceful and just society is greatly eroded by the culture of death shaped by the violence of the bombings and wars happening in our times. Can we still hope for a peaceful future, when power and greed dictates on what is right or wrong in our society?
The gospel today displays the anger of Christ as He confronts the corruption and the greed happening in His Father's house. But, His anger does not lead Him into desperation. Beyond His anger over the corruption and greed that He witnessed, he has shown the power of His interior authority, the authority of Himself that evokes the faith and hope of his disciples. "Destroy this temple and in three days, I will raise it up."
This is very instructive for all of us, especially to our graduates today. The gospel message evokes in us this feeling of faith and hope. If we have to confront the desperate data of our society, we must have these same faith and hope. We cannot allow the feeling of anxiety and anger over corruption, greed, and violence to overwhelm us and bring us down to despair. This will only lead us to a bleak future. We shall overcome. And we can only do this, if we continue to believe and hope in that same interior authority of Christ that the gospel speaks today. This morning, Jesus offers this to all of us and especially to you, the graduates of Notre Dame.
I always like to believe that the Notre Dame graduates are marked by the same interior authority of Christ. You are not only professionals with competitive capabilities. But more importantly, you are graduates formed with the Gospel values. Indeed, much is expected from you. And as Notre Damians, you are expected to assume the leadership in the task of building a just and loving society. Mother Mary, our Lady, is our model - the Mother who has shown us her compassion and love for the poor during her own times.
Therefore, as graduates of Notre Dame, let us continue out there to build and form families grounded on the interior authority of Christ. Let us live up to the rich human and Christian values that Notre Dame of Marbel University has formed us. Let our own lives be living signs of Faith, Hope, and Love. Because only then can we truly build the culture of peace in the midst of a seeming culture of death.
So good luck. And may God bless us all.
Let me begin by congratulating ourselves - the graduates, the parents, the teachers and the administrators of the NDMU for the job well done. I believe that we deserve it, considering the difficult problems and challenges that we had to face this school year. There is the no-ending problem of economic burden that gets heavier on our shoulders every year. And there is the terror of bombings that constantly threatens our lives. Yet, in spite of all these, we survive the school year and emerge ourselves, especially the graduates, victorious. So, congratulations to all of us.
This morning, as we come together, we celebrate with mixed feelings: the feelings of thanksgiving, anxiety, faith and hope. There is the feeling of thanks, because for you, graduates, your graduation is not only earning a university degree, but because you have imbibed the human and Christian values of your Alma Mater that make you a better human being, a more responsible person. Values that shall accompany you as you carve your future in the real world.
Definitely, this feeling of thanks is shared by your parents, because they look at you as the living fruits of their inestimable sacrifices. No doubt, the same feeling is also shared by your dedicated teachers and administrators, because you have allowed them to accompany you in realizing your dreams. They have become a significant part of your life.
However, as we celebrate this feeling of thanksgiving, that we all share, we cannot help but feel anxious. Perhaps, for the graduates, the feeling of anxiety is not much the prospects of landing on a job, but because, day by day, our world has become a very dangerous world to live in. Our dream of a peaceful and just society is greatly eroded by the culture of death shaped by the violence of the bombings and wars happening in our times. Can we still hope for a peaceful future, when power and greed dictates on what is right or wrong in our society?
The gospel today displays the anger of Christ as He confronts the corruption and the greed happening in His Father's house. But, His anger does not lead Him into desperation. Beyond His anger over the corruption and greed that He witnessed, he has shown the power of His interior authority, the authority of Himself that evokes the faith and hope of his disciples. "Destroy this temple and in three days, I will raise it up."
This is very instructive for all of us, especially to our graduates today. The gospel message evokes in us this feeling of faith and hope. If we have to confront the desperate data of our society, we must have these same faith and hope. We cannot allow the feeling of anxiety and anger over corruption, greed, and violence to overwhelm us and bring us down to despair. This will only lead us to a bleak future. We shall overcome. And we can only do this, if we continue to believe and hope in that same interior authority of Christ that the gospel speaks today. This morning, Jesus offers this to all of us and especially to you, the graduates of Notre Dame.
I always like to believe that the Notre Dame graduates are marked by the same interior authority of Christ. You are not only professionals with competitive capabilities. But more importantly, you are graduates formed with the Gospel values. Indeed, much is expected from you. And as Notre Damians, you are expected to assume the leadership in the task of building a just and loving society. Mother Mary, our Lady, is our model - the Mother who has shown us her compassion and love for the poor during her own times.
Therefore, as graduates of Notre Dame, let us continue out there to build and form families grounded on the interior authority of Christ. Let us live up to the rich human and Christian values that Notre Dame of Marbel University has formed us. Let our own lives be living signs of Faith, Hope, and Love. Because only then can we truly build the culture of peace in the midst of a seeming culture of death.
So good luck. And may God bless us all.
Homily to NDMU Graduates
Homily to NDMU Graduates 2000
Fr. George Carin
Today, I look at you and I see smiles on your faces. A smile that could paint a thousand words. And if I may interpret some, behind your sweet smiles, I can see the smile of liberation, the smile of thanks, and the smile of hope.
First is the smile of liberation, because I'm sure that you feel happy for being liberated from the rigid ritual that every student has to perform: the grind of attending classes, the pressure of preparing and taking exams, and the anxiety of meeting the dead line of submitting term papers. Not to discount, the agony of coping with the increasing tuition fees. All that is behind you now.
Second is the smile of thanks, because I know that despite the pains of the struggle to get a university education, you survive a victor. You emerge as a better human being, a more responsible person. Thanks to the persons who have helped this reality possible in your life today: your parents, for their inestimable sacrifices, your school administrators and teachers, for their passion and dedication to give you a competitive and quality education.
Third is the smile of hope, because I know that you look at the world out there not as desperate data, but as challenges and opportunities. As graduates molded with the gospel values, you should embrace the world not as an enemy, but a friend. A friend who is waiting for your love and service to be shaped according the values of God's kingdom.
The gospel today speaks of the fig tree. In the story, Jesus is suggesting to cut the fig tree that does not bear fruit. Of course, Jesus did not mean to be anti-ecology. He was simply alluding to the leadership of the Scribes and Pharisees. A system of leadership that only caters to their own selfish interest and power at the expense of people's lives. The fig tree that needs to be cut refers to a life-style that sucks the poor rather than serving them. A way of life that is really opposed to the building of God's kingdom of justice and love.
To bear much fruit is expected of every fig tree. Because such is the nature of fig trees. In our times, we are these fig trees. As Christians, what should flow naturally from us are the fruits of love and justice. Our faith in Christ should move us to re-invent our society with the culture of peace and justice. A life moved with compassion especially for the marginalized in our society. This is the challenge that the gospel confronts us this morning.
And this is especially so to you Notre Dame graduates, much is expected of you. Not every Filipino youth in this country enjoys the same opportunity as you have. Not every college graduate in this country gets an education and training that guarantees competitiveness and quality. Not every Christian is privilege to undergo a university education that makes the gospel values as the core-curriculum.
Indeed, much is expected from you. You are not only professionals. But you are graduates of Notre Dame. And as Notre Damians, you are expected to assume the leadership in the task of building a just and loving society. You must excel in your love for the poor and the marginalized in our society. Such is the marked of a genuine Notre Damian. Because Mother Mary has shown us this same compassion and love for the poor in her own life.
What hurts and betrays Notre Dame is when Notre Damians fail to live up to Her ideals. When you turn out to be self-serving professionals rather than exemplars of service for others. When you become exploiters and oppressors rather than servants of justice and liberation. What bleeds Her heart is when we sow hatred rather than love, when you hold on to lies rather the continuing search for the truth.
Perhaps, as you move on to shape your future out there in the real world, you may forget some of the good things that you have learned in the university. You may fail to remember the non-essentials, but always hold on to the three basic postures of the real Notre Damian. The posture of sitting, walking, and kneeling. The "sitting posture" leads you to reflect and plan your life. The "walking posture" leads you to action. Reflections and plans are not enough. It needs doing. The "kneeling posture" leads you to prayer, for without God, we can do nothing. This is the most important posture of all. Because such keeps us in touch, in the most profound way, with the Spirit in us - The Spirit that makes all things new.
So good luck. And May God bless you.
Fr. George Carin
Today, I look at you and I see smiles on your faces. A smile that could paint a thousand words. And if I may interpret some, behind your sweet smiles, I can see the smile of liberation, the smile of thanks, and the smile of hope.
First is the smile of liberation, because I'm sure that you feel happy for being liberated from the rigid ritual that every student has to perform: the grind of attending classes, the pressure of preparing and taking exams, and the anxiety of meeting the dead line of submitting term papers. Not to discount, the agony of coping with the increasing tuition fees. All that is behind you now.
Second is the smile of thanks, because I know that despite the pains of the struggle to get a university education, you survive a victor. You emerge as a better human being, a more responsible person. Thanks to the persons who have helped this reality possible in your life today: your parents, for their inestimable sacrifices, your school administrators and teachers, for their passion and dedication to give you a competitive and quality education.
Third is the smile of hope, because I know that you look at the world out there not as desperate data, but as challenges and opportunities. As graduates molded with the gospel values, you should embrace the world not as an enemy, but a friend. A friend who is waiting for your love and service to be shaped according the values of God's kingdom.
The gospel today speaks of the fig tree. In the story, Jesus is suggesting to cut the fig tree that does not bear fruit. Of course, Jesus did not mean to be anti-ecology. He was simply alluding to the leadership of the Scribes and Pharisees. A system of leadership that only caters to their own selfish interest and power at the expense of people's lives. The fig tree that needs to be cut refers to a life-style that sucks the poor rather than serving them. A way of life that is really opposed to the building of God's kingdom of justice and love.
To bear much fruit is expected of every fig tree. Because such is the nature of fig trees. In our times, we are these fig trees. As Christians, what should flow naturally from us are the fruits of love and justice. Our faith in Christ should move us to re-invent our society with the culture of peace and justice. A life moved with compassion especially for the marginalized in our society. This is the challenge that the gospel confronts us this morning.
And this is especially so to you Notre Dame graduates, much is expected of you. Not every Filipino youth in this country enjoys the same opportunity as you have. Not every college graduate in this country gets an education and training that guarantees competitiveness and quality. Not every Christian is privilege to undergo a university education that makes the gospel values as the core-curriculum.
Indeed, much is expected from you. You are not only professionals. But you are graduates of Notre Dame. And as Notre Damians, you are expected to assume the leadership in the task of building a just and loving society. You must excel in your love for the poor and the marginalized in our society. Such is the marked of a genuine Notre Damian. Because Mother Mary has shown us this same compassion and love for the poor in her own life.
What hurts and betrays Notre Dame is when Notre Damians fail to live up to Her ideals. When you turn out to be self-serving professionals rather than exemplars of service for others. When you become exploiters and oppressors rather than servants of justice and liberation. What bleeds Her heart is when we sow hatred rather than love, when you hold on to lies rather the continuing search for the truth.
Perhaps, as you move on to shape your future out there in the real world, you may forget some of the good things that you have learned in the university. You may fail to remember the non-essentials, but always hold on to the three basic postures of the real Notre Damian. The posture of sitting, walking, and kneeling. The "sitting posture" leads you to reflect and plan your life. The "walking posture" leads you to action. Reflections and plans are not enough. It needs doing. The "kneeling posture" leads you to prayer, for without God, we can do nothing. This is the most important posture of all. Because such keeps us in touch, in the most profound way, with the Spirit in us - The Spirit that makes all things new.
So good luck. And May God bless you.
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