Notebook Eight Grade Third Period

Notebook Eight Grade Third Period Date: Topic: Nine reasons for justification of knowledge Activities: Presentation, Round table, Game Guiding questions: What justifies knowledge?, When is knowledge justified enough?, Why we need to justify our knowledge? In the theory of knowledge there are a set of reasons for justification of things that are supposed to be knowledge, these are: logic, sensory perception, revelation, faith, memory, consensus, authority, intuition, and self-awareness. Plato said that knowledge is 'justified true belief' - what exactly does that mean? There are different methods people use to give reasons for their knowledge claims, the evidence they provide for their theories or beliefs about the world. There are methods that lead to 'strong' justifications (reason, language) and other to 'weak' justifications (emotion, perception). Which AoKs provide strong justifications and which weak ones? Is usually assumed that the Natural Sciences and Math deal in 'hard' evidence to support their theories, whereas the Arts and perhaps Ethics can only deal in 'weak' evidence. The reasons to justify knowledge vary according to context. In personal life we usually justify our knowledge with personal experience, our own feelings and “common sense”. In contrast, academic knowledge usually requires “hard proof”, for example experiments, and is constantly tested for its value. But sometimes, these boundaries are not clear and everyday life requires hard evidence while academic subjects rely on subjective experiences. Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P2 Date: Topic: Logic Activities: Guiding questions: What is Logic? Can something be illogical and true? Logic is the science of reasoning. Logic helps people decide whether something is true or false. Logic is also studied in philosophy. A popular example, given by Aristotle: 1. All humans are mortal (They die at some point) 2. Aristotle is a human 3. Therefore, Aristotle is mortal. Finally, those talking about logic talk about logic clauses. A clause is simply something like "Aristotle is human" or "all humans are mortal". Clauses have a truth value; they are either true or false, but not both. Mistakes in logic are called "fallacies". It is called a tautology. (for example: "It rains, or it does not rain") Logic is used by computers in what is called an algorithm. An algorithm is sort of like a cooking recipe; it tells the computer what to do and when to do it. Logic is used in mathematics. People who study math create proofs that use logic to show that math facts are correct. There is an area of mathematics called mathematical logic that studies logic using mathematics. Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P3 Date: Topic: Sensory perception Activities: Visual presentation, illusion games Guiding questions: What is sensing? Can I trust my senses? In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of getting, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. Basically, perception is the information we get trough our senses. Methods of studying perception range from essentially biological or physiological approaches, through psychological approaches through the philosophy of mind. Merleau Ponty affirmed that perception is the basis of all science and knowledge. What one person perceives is a result of interaction between past experiences, culture and the interpretation of the perceived. If the percept does not have any of these perceptual bases it cannot constitute a true perception. Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P4 Date: Topic: Revelation Activities: Presentation, Round table: Joan of Arc, madness or holiness? Guiding questions: How does one know if a divine revelation is in fact genuine? "What is the difference between belief and knowledge? Revelation is the act of showing, letting know or making something obvious and clearly understood through communication with the divine. Revelation can originate directly from a deity, or through an agent, such as an angel. A person that has experienced this kind of contact or has communicated with the divine is known as a prophet. Most religions have texts which they view as divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired. Revelation or information from a supernatural source is of less importance in some other religious traditions. For example, it doesn’t have a great importance in the Asian religions of Taoism and Confucianism, but similarities have been noted between the Abrahamic view of revelation and the Buddhist principle of Enlightenment. Key concepts: -

The terms "knowledge" and "belief" are often used interchangeably by religious believers, but technically these are very distinct terms. Declarations of "belief" mean that the person holds a religious belief to be true, without having any firm proof.

Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P5 Date: Topic: Faith Activities: Presentation, Round table: Why so many religions? Guiding questions: Is faith knowledge? Without evidence, how can somebody show me that his faith is truth? How faith compares to modern science? Faith is the belief in the truth of a person, idea, or thing. It is also used for a belief, typically without proof. Informal usage of the word "faith" can be extensive, and may be used in place of "trust", "belief", or "hope". For example, the word "faith" can refer to a religion itself or to religion in general. Faith is often used in a religious context, where it refers to a belief in a transcendent reality or in a Supreme Being and this being's role in the order of transcendent, spiritual things. Many noted philosophers have the idea that faith is the basis of knowledge. Fideism affirms that true belief can only come from faith, because reason and evidence cannot lead to truth. A certain number of religious rationalists, as well as non-religious people, criticize implicit faith as being irrational, and see faith as ignorance of reality: a strong belief in something with no evidence. Bertrand Russell used to say that no one speaks of faith in the existence of things like gravity or electricity; they talk about facts and proof. For him faith occurs only when evidence or logic fails. Richard Dawkins says that faith a process of “active non-thinking”. Key concepts: -

Faith do not requires or even asks for proof or evidence. In a sense faith refers to belief beyond evidence or logical arguments. Faith can be desirable for emotional reasons or to regulate society.

Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P6 Date: Topic: Memory Activities: Guiding questions: Summary: Memory is the part of the brain you use to remember things. It is the mind's ability to store information to use later. It is studied in cognitive psychology. There are three main types of memory: 1. Sensory memory, in which sensations are first noticed. 2. Short-term memory, the ability to keep information in mind for a short time. 3. Long-term memory, the ability to remember things long after they happen. There exists an individual memory, the one every person has and a collective memory that is built in groups, as a society. Some people consider that external devices to store information are part of our mind and can be considered memory. Memory may appear as a perfect record of the past, but in fact we’re changing what we remember all the time by adding, deleting or modifying information. Key concepts: -

Memory only stores information, it does not process it. Memory is not perfect or definitive, it can be changed. Memory is a complex process with many elements.

Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P7 Date: Topic: Consensus Activities: Round table: Guiding questions: Summary:

Is democracy the best form of government? Can everybody agree on everything all the time? How is consensus achieved?

Consensus is a general agreement among the members of a group or community. each and every member exercises some judgment in the decisions made and the actions taken. Another way to put it is as the "collective agreement" of a group, keeping in mind that a many variations are possible in the individuals and this variation is important for the actions that the group will make. The concept of consensus is particularly important in the society and government, and in the concept of democracy. Democracy has been criticized and is sometimes referred to as the "tyranny of the majority". Meaning that one part of society is dominating the other, possibly repressively. Key concepts: -

Consensus usually involves collaboration, rather than compromise. Consensus can lead to groupthink, making it harder for opponents to be heard. Consensus may fail in a situation where there simply is no agreement possible.

Notebook 83P8 Date: Topic: Authority Activities: Round table: Guiding questions: -

Is authority necessary for society? What legitimates authority? What forms of authority do I know?

Summary: Authority is the ability of a person or an organization to enforce a certain lifestyle for another person or a group. Authority is known as one of the basis of society and stands against cooperation. Adopting lifestyle patterns as a result of authority is called obedience and authority as a concept includes leadership. Authority exists thanks to some type of social power. This power might be materialistic (threat to harm) or fictitious (a belief in a certain person's power). The power exists because of the possible use of sanction, an action that harms a person who's not obeying the authority or threatening it. Authority that does not come from actual power, which is called "forcing", comes from legitimization. This is a social factor that gives recognition to the authority (for example aristocratic authority). In most cases both types exist at the same time or are present in the same institution. Obedience means authority is being enforced. While obedience is the law, disobedience and crime are violation and resistance to the authority. Many people criticize people in authority, and some even criticize the existence of authority. Anarchism is a philosophy that opposes all forms of authority. Key concepts: -

Authority can be imposed by force or be legitimated. Disobedience is a violation of authority and is usually punished. Some people oppose authority per se, not only a particular form.

Notebook 83P9 Date: Topic: Intuition Activities: Round table: Guiding questions: -

Is intuition a valid form of knowledge? When do we use intuition? What is the relation of authority to the other reasons?

Summary: Intuition is the apparent ability to acquire knowledge without inference or the use of reason. Intuition provides us with beliefs that we cannot necessarily justify. For this reason, it has been the subject of study in psychology, as well as a topic of interest in the supernatural. “Intuition is a combination of historical (empirical) data, deep and heightened observation and an ability to cut through the thickness of surface reality. Intuition is like a slow motion machine that captures data instantaneously and hits you like a ton of bricks. Intuition is a knowing, a sensing that is beyond the conscious understanding — a gut feeling. Intuition is not pseudo-science.” Abella Arthur. Key concepts: -

Intuition leads us to believe things without being able to articulate evidence or reasons for those beliefs. When using only intuition, the truth of the proposition is immediately known right then, the moment it is presented.

Personal conclusions:

Notebook 83P10 Date: Topic: Self-awareness Activities: Round table: Guiding questions: -

How do I know that I exist? How I differentiate my existence from others? Can my self-awareness be false?

Summary: Self-awareness is the concept that one exists as an individual, separate from other people, with private thoughts and individual rights. It may also include the understanding that other people are similarly self-aware Self-Awareness Theory states that when we focus our attention on ourselves, we evaluate and compare our current behavior to our internal standards and values. We become self-conscious as objective evaluators of ourselves. Various emotional states are intensified by self-awareness, and people sometimes try to reduce or escape it through things like television, video games, alcohol, drugs, etc. People are more likely to align their behavior with their standards when made self-aware. People will be negatively affected if they don’t live up to their personal standards. Various environmental cues and situations induce awareness of the self, such as mirrors, an audience, or being videotaped or recorded. These cues also increase accuracy of personal memory. In science fiction, self-awareness describes an essential human property that bestows "personhood" onto a non-human. Key concepts: -

Self-awareness is a personal concept that one cannot share. Humans are not the only creatures who are self-aware.

Personal conclusions: