CHAPTER 3
Epistemology and Logic
Over two thousand years ago Pontius Pilate uttered one of the
most profound questions ever asked, “What is Truth?” Episte
mology seeks to answer that question and several other related
questions. Epistemology is the study of knowledge: How do we
know? Can we know? What can we know? What are the limits
of our understanding? Questions about truth, knowledge, the
uses of knowledge, have yielded several theories, some of which
we will discuss in this chapter.
There are two broad theories about truth: one, that truth is
objective; the other, that truth is subjective. Those who accept
the objective theory of truth contend that there are certain truths,
and those truths are absolute, eternal, immutable. The subjective
view asserts that everything is relative; there are no absolutes.
The absolutist believes that there are truths that exist despite
our opinion. Some absolutists believe that these truths can be
known, others believe that some can and some cannot be known.
All agree, however, that truth does exist. When many people
believed that the world was flat, the objective fact was that the
world is round, and regardless of the opinions of all those people
who thought otherwise, the absolute is and was true. Later we
will discuss the many ways we use to discern the truth, but for
now, the point is that this theory states that the truth is objective,
absolute, and often knowable.
The relativist believes that truth is relative and subjective. All
of us apprehend knowledge, basically, through our senses. It is
obvious that the senses can deceive, and therefore, all of us
perceive things differently. The very different ways we make our
judgments prove that truth is simply a matter of opinion. “Mary
is a very beautiful girl” says John. Bill responds, “Yuk!” Same
girl, two different opinions, how come? We shall spend a good
deal of time investigating these two positions.
There is a third concept of truth, which is called skepticism.
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