When The Results Depend On Epistemology

You have probably heard of the term epistemology. Because it is a complicated word it sounds very important and it actually is. Many people have studied and debated this term. However, what is epistemology? Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge.

Knowledge is the collection of information and facts that you accept as true. However, if you accept some things as true, it means you believe other things are false. Epistemology thus deals with the criteria that validate knowledge.

The opposite is the destruction of knowledge, which is called epistemicide. A historical example of epistemicide is when women were burned at the stake for allegedly being witches.

In reality, however, these women became related because they believed in and had knowledge of things that those in power knew nothing about or disagreed with. To kill that knowledge, they killed the “witches.”

Types of epistemological knowledge

Epistemology studies knowledge. To be more specific, it studies how one acquires knowledge. In other words, which criteria one must take into account in order to acquire knowledge.

Epistemology also defines concepts such as ‘truth’, ‘objectivity’, ‘reality’ and ‘justification’. For example, epistemology is also useful in defining what science is.

In order to know what can be seen as knowledge and what is not, you must first ask yourself whether it is possible to gain an understanding of a universal truth. If you think it’s not possible, you’re a skeptic. If you do think there are certain universal truths, then there are two new questions.

The first question is how to find that truth. If you believe that you can achieve it by using your senses, then you are an empiricist. On the other hand, if you believe that you can arrive at the truth through reason, you are a rationalist.

The second question refers to the object of truth. If you believe that the object of this truth is within you (your opinion about something, for example), then you are an idealist. However, if for you the object of truth is an external reality, then you are a realist.

Consequences of choosing one epistemology over another

In psychology, as in other sciences, it is important to have an epistemological position. In general, people believe that scientists obtain knowledge through the use of their senses.

That is, scientists are all empiricists. Moreover, they are also realists. They believe that the truth lies in the external reality.

However, not all sciences share this position. There are also certain movements such as interpretationism, constructivism or humanism. None of these schools of thought provide the same answers to the epistemological questions we mentioned earlier in this article.

However, positivism and post-positivism are closer to the epistemology we talked about in the previous section. Consequently , there is an ongoing debate about which epistemology can really provide true knowledge.

That’s because the knowledge that comes from each of these schools of thought is different. Although they may have much in common, the ways of acquiring knowledge or the methods used will differ. As a result, one school of thought may reject the knowledge of another.

Consequences within psychology

It may seem that epistemology is nothing more than an academic discussion without an answer. Today, however, there is a debate that is relevant to health and wellness. That debate revolves around alternative therapies, such as homeopathic medicines.

In this debate , the efficacy of homeopathic products has been questioned. Do they really work? The answer that post-positivism gives is “No.” Several experiments confirm that they have no real effect on the body, other than the placebo effect.

However, those whose epistemological position focuses on rationalism and the internal object say that if those taking the drug say it works, then it does.

Because of this, you can see that the debate about alternative therapies is epistemological. Depending on the answers to the questions we asked at the beginning of this article, you may come to the conclusion that alternative therapies are effective or not.

It is therefore important to know the epistemological position of the people who defend their beliefs. Not only that, but you have to be a critical thinker and understand the limitations different methods have when it comes to delivering real knowledge.