Epistemological Enigmas Trivia Quiz

Answer: Epistemology

Epistemology is often referred to as the "theory of knowledge." It is often broken down into three separate areas of knowledge study: propositional, practical, and acquaintance. Propositional knowledge deals with known facts, while practical knowledge is skill-based, or knowing how to do certain things, or knowing how those things work in the world. Knowledge of acquaintance is knowledge achieved by experience. Knowing a person or a place would be an example of this.

Answer: Opinion

A person must believe something, that something must also be true, and there must be justification in believing it. Opinions, while based on a person's beliefs, are not always rooted in truth or facts. Opinions are often clouded by different factors in a person's life; upbringing, religious background, family life, education, et cetera. Because of this, opinions cannot be used as a basis for human knowledge.

Answer: René Descartes

René Descartes is considered to be one of the fathers of modern philosophy. His belief that nothing can be known unless there is incontrovertible evidence helped shaped one of the most well known phrases of philosophy, "I think, therefore, I am." Descartes also developed the coordinate system in geometry, with help from Pierre de Fermat.

The two came up with the idea of using algebraic terms to describe geometry, and the coordinate plane was the result. That system is used even to this day.

Answer: Problem of Induction

Past patterns, no matter how definitive they might be in the past, cannot be guaranteed for future events. Since a coin is two-sided, no matter how many consecutive times it lands on heads, the future flips on that same coin cannot be certain.

Answer: Justified True Belief

You have a belief that it is noon, and at that moment in time, it is truly noon. It seems justified because the clock says so, and you are unaware that it is broken. Just because the clock is broken does not make this a false belief. It is however, what is known as a "Gettier Case." Since the clock is broken, the belief is only true by luck.

Many philosophers, including Edmund Gettier, for which this case is named, believe that this type of Justified True Belief is not actual knowledge.

Answer: Yes

We've all been fooled by magic tricks or illusions in our lives. This shows that our senses cannot be trusted fully in all situations. Perception on its own cannot be used to determine knowledge, as there are generally other factors in play.

Answer: Reliability of Testimony

The testimony of others is often unreliable and subject to questioning. In this case, even though your friend was correct, they were unaware that they were correct. The argument is since knowledge comes from truth, belief, and justification, a wild guess from a friend cannot be fully relied on as knowledge, even if that knowledge proves truthful.

Answer: Ship

In Greek mythology, during his travels aboard his ship, Theseus and those travelling with him, needed to replace different parts of the ship. The "Ship of Theseus" asks the question, "If all the pieces of a ship are replaced over time, is it still the same ship?" Some philosophers even ask, "At what point is the ship no longer the same, because so much of it has been replaced with new parts?"

Answer: Relativism vs. objectivity

The question being raised is, can truth vary based on one's perspective? If both people are looking at an image from two different angles, both will perceive the image in two separate ways, even though they're both looking at the same image. Consider the way the number "6" and the number "9" appear.

They are the same symbol, simply inverse depictions of the other. If the symbol is laid out, and two people stand on either side of it, one person will see "6" and the other will see "9." Perception for both will determine their reality.

Answer: Preface

Naturally, anyone who puts in the effort of writing a book would believe that everything they have written is true. It's human nature to believe that we are right about our beliefs and experiences. However, those experiences often tell us that we are, more often than we'd like to admit, wrong.

Therefore, it is also logical for a writer to believe that they have made a mistake somewhere in their writing. This leads to the "Preface Paradox."