Program - Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation
Course - Phil: Perspectives for IB and Entrepr.
(300343-B-6)
, Introduction to philosophy of science
Science comes from the latin ‘scire’, which means ‘to know’. It also comes from the Indo-
European ‘skei’, which means ‘to cut, to split’.
● Science is the product of knowledge;
● Acquire knowledge by analyzing things into their basic components;
Defining knowledge
Knowledge is the following:
3 conditions (Plato):
1. Knowledge pertains to beliefs;
2. Those beliefs have to be true;
3. Those beliefs have to be justified
‘Knowledge as justified true belief’
How to justify something?
Cartesian doubt - Can we know anything at all? What is a good justification of belief?
● Systematic exercise of doubt
● What remains? Empirical observation? The outside world? Memories?
We cannot always trust our observations and measurements. There are a lot of biases and
effects that can distort observations.
Our senses fool ourselves from time to time, but what about mathematical statements?
Descartes posed the idea that everything might be fake, as in a dream. So, can we be certain
about anything in this scenario? Any proof would come from
this world of illusion.
● Where can we find the truth in this scenario?
Descartes: “I know, therefore I am” - Fact of conscious thought
itself is indisputable.
We still need to bridge the gap that explains how thought can
lead to knowledge. How do we get out of our own minds?
Course - Phil: Perspectives for IB and Entrepr.
(300343-B-6)
, Introduction to philosophy of science
Science comes from the latin ‘scire’, which means ‘to know’. It also comes from the Indo-
European ‘skei’, which means ‘to cut, to split’.
● Science is the product of knowledge;
● Acquire knowledge by analyzing things into their basic components;
Defining knowledge
Knowledge is the following:
3 conditions (Plato):
1. Knowledge pertains to beliefs;
2. Those beliefs have to be true;
3. Those beliefs have to be justified
‘Knowledge as justified true belief’
How to justify something?
Cartesian doubt - Can we know anything at all? What is a good justification of belief?
● Systematic exercise of doubt
● What remains? Empirical observation? The outside world? Memories?
We cannot always trust our observations and measurements. There are a lot of biases and
effects that can distort observations.
Our senses fool ourselves from time to time, but what about mathematical statements?
Descartes posed the idea that everything might be fake, as in a dream. So, can we be certain
about anything in this scenario? Any proof would come from
this world of illusion.
● Where can we find the truth in this scenario?
Descartes: “I know, therefore I am” - Fact of conscious thought
itself is indisputable.
We still need to bridge the gap that explains how thought can
lead to knowledge. How do we get out of our own minds?
