Ways We Know

Having only attending this class once, I am a little short on words. We opened the class an attempt to define "knowledge". And to be honest, I ended the class more confused about "knowledge" than when I entered. Pre February 27 (first day of class) I thought of knowledge simply as what one knows. Now, though this still rings true, I realize it’s much more complicated than that. In reality, what do we really know? Laura brought up the point in class that she “knew that at 10:30 today she would be in math class.” Then she was refuted by the bread truck theory. So really what do we know? In Descartes’ Meditations he addresses this very doubt. In his first meditation he begins to untangle the idea that one’s perceptions might not necessarily be the truth. He gives an example of what he feels is “manifestly impossible to doubt” (4). He is fully confident that “I am in this place, seated by the fire clothed in a winter dressing gown, that I hold in my hands a piece of paper, with other intimations of the same nature” (4).

I agree with Descartes concept of doubting our perceptions; however, how else could humans function? I believe that all humans really have is their own interpretations of the truth. If we began to doubt this we’d drive ourselves crazy.