RE: "Doing" Epistemology?

["none of your business" <akosua_b@hotmail.com>]

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Dear All,

My initial response....

Epistemology in philosophy, is the a priori discipline of 'discovering' what 
we can know. We know facts about the physical world say. Then the 
epistemologist will ask something like, 'what are the necessary and 
sufficient conditions for this kind of knowledge?' 'Can necessary and 
sufficient conditions be given to this kind of knowledge?' Considering we 
know empirical facts, what are the preconditions for such knowledge?.... 
etc... etc... The epistemologist will also ask what it beyond the limits of 
knowledge? What are we barred from knowing?

It is questions like these that keeps epistemology in business.

These are not, prima facie, questions about language. Nor (in my opinion) 
can they be reduced to or eliminated by linguistic analysis.

Knowing exactly what is being said, is a precondition of any philosophical 
discipline. So linguistic analsis sure is helpful in that department. But 
once that work had been done, real epistemology can begin.

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