Ton know. Conocer. Epistemology

What is Epistemology Anyway?

A standard definition, which is to say nothing, epistemology is a theory of knowledge. It is a division of philosophy. How do we know? Or how do we know we know. (We are getting too complicated, right?). If in a business meeting someone asks: “did anybody arrive in horseback today” almost suddenly all would laugh, shut up or their minds stop. This is because commons sense is suddenly “broken” or frozen. No one would expect this to be true. Most people arrive to work by car, or by public transportation, a few take a bicycle, and very few simply walk. So common sense is what everyone expects to occur or happen.


There are no fixed agreements not even among academics. Some say we know by reason, some say we know by experiment, trial and error, and some say we may know by sensing objects. Some say we know through emotion or intuition and insight and so forth. Most people wouldn’t care less, and cultures don’t have time or interest in speculation or philosophy, they simple eat, dance, sleep and act: this may build common sense in community life.


A Zen monk questioned about what his theology was, simply stated: “We have no theology, we just dance”.


This is not to claim that science or philosophy or both are a waste of time. They aren’t. Systematic and rigorous thinking of many wise and trained people usually leads to innovative breakthroughs. All atomic theories and macro phase universe astronomic theories are the result of decades or centuries of the collaborative efforts of the best minds. Science and philosophic thinking have made great contributions to mankind. But the enormous gap of academics thinking, research and development and common sense is indeed enormous and tantalizing. Science seems to be somewhat isolated from society except for research and development centers. Popular beliefs and daily life take little into account science and epistemologies.