Elements of Epistemology

Epistemology (Gk. episteme knowledge) is a

branch of philosophy that investigates the origin and nature

of human knowledge. Visual statistics consists of methods and algorithms for collection, analysis and visualization of quantitative and qualitative information that can help us to obtain a rational

view of our world.

Saint Thomas refused to believe in resurrection until he saw and felt the wounds of Jesus Christ. The story, as told by John, goes as

follows:

The other disciples said to him, we have seen the Lord. But Thomas

said 'except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and thrust my

hand into his side, I will not

believe.' Then came Jesus and said to Thomas 'touch here with your

finger, reach here with your hand, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas said to him 'My Lord and my God'. Jesus said to him,

'Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed:

blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

This story is of interest, as it illustrates a cornerstone of

epistemology that of belief vs. doubt.

The religious tradition asserts the superiority of belief over doubt

while the opposite observed within the tradition of the science.

Epistemology began in classical Greece with philosophers

asking whether objective knowledge is possible.

Chapter ISocrates and Plato

Socrates by Jacques-Louis David (1787)

About Socrates  

Plato describes Socrates' (c. 9550 HE, 450 BCE) shabby appearance

and tattered clothes. Socrates was appreciated by few and hated by

many, as he sought the intellectual and moral improvement of society that, he thought could be achieved

by humanistic education.

This collided with doctrines of religious moralists who want to

improve society by religious indoctrination and by punishments

meted out by the law. This ideological conflict was resolved

not by a Socratic dialogue, but by a judicial decree. Socrates' teachings

were judged as corrupt and Socrates was executed.

Over two millennia later, Socrates is still remembered, as his accusers

did not realize that a better strategy would have been to

accuse him of moral turpitude, and

drug addiction. After all, he chose to drink hemlock, didn't

he?

Hemlock (Conium maculatum)

Socrates' Core Thesis

Socrates maintained that humans do not knowingly act evil. We do what we believe is the

best. Improper conduct is the product of ignorance. The way to

achieve a better society is through education.

The opposing view is that a better society must be maintained by

punishments. This line of reasoning rests on the assumption that God

gave us the free will to choose between good and evil. To restrain the evil; freedom has to be taken

away from the guilty by incarceration or by the termination of life. To prevent the evil, freedom

must be curtailed by pressures toward the moral rectitude by an elaborate system of rewards and punishments. The core postulates of this system are in the belief in

God and in the belief of an afterlife. Thus, this system of rewards and

punishments can include promises which fulfillment does not require tangible expenditures and cannot be verified, extended into eternity and intensified by fantasies of bliss in heaven and of suffering in hell. Within this cognitive framework, there is no escape, not even by suicide, which lands you in Hell. However, inflicting death upon

others, as in a jihad, earns you into paradise plus the seventy-one

maidens’ bonus.

Samson killed about 3,000 persons.

Number of persons killed during the air raids on the U.S. territory within the framework of some of the air raids by the U.S. on the territories

of others.

Samson and Delilah 

During one of the numerous wars between Israelites and Philistines,

the leader of Israel was Samson (Judges 16:31). Delilah

was a Philistine woman, paid over a thousand shekels to seduce

Samson and deliver him to the hands of his enemies. Philistines, happy that 'our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one

who lay waste our land and multiplied our slain," displayed captured Samson in the temple.

This Biblical story ends as follows.

The temple was crowded with about three thousand men and women. When they stood him

among the pillars, Samson prayed to the Lord, reached toward the two central pillars and pushed with all his might. The temple collapsed,

killing all the people in it.

Religious justifications of terrorism can be found in both the Qur'an

and the Bible. The Bible also includes a remarkably close

estimate how many people can be killed by collapsing a large building.

The Play of Shadows 

The shadow play was introduced to the West by travelers who

witnessed it in China. The play of shadows is a form of

Puppetry in which flat cutout figures are held against a translucent screen and illuminated by a lamp from behind.

The Chinese also perfected the making of tinted translucent

materials used to produce colored shadows. Sometimes, the figures

had grotesque shapes and ornamentation.

The art of shadow puppetry followed the Silk Road to Turkey,

where it spread to Greece, reaching across the North Africa into Spain and France.

The famous French silhouettes, popular before photography

became generally available, were influenced by the shadow play.

Parable of the Cave  

bears a marked resemblance to the shadow play. It was narrated by Plato (c. 400 BCE), a student of

Socrates.

This parable follows an interesting course: Imagine prisoners in an

underground cave with their necks chained so that they can only see

before them.

Behind them, a fire is blazing at a distance. Between the fire and the

prisoners, there is a raised way.

In front of the prisoners, the prisoners see the shadows of

events taking place on the raised way on a wall.

To them, the truth is literally nothing but the shadows of the

images.

The Knowledge will set You Free   

 One of the prisoners’ escapes, returns to the cave, and tells the

others about the world above.

After prisoners leave the cave, they initially think that the shadows are

truer than the visible objects, only gradually grasping the reality.

The meaning of this allegory is that mediated images are the world of

those who live in the cave.

To be free, we have to ascent upwards, into the world that could

be correctly perceived and interpreted.

Among the tasks of social sciences is to lessen the irrationality of the

society, to improve critical thinking of its members, and to enable us to see issues and events as they are and not as the puppeteers would

like us to believe.

To dispel shadows and to cast the rays of light.

Chapter 2 will follow soon…

Trinity

18.9.09