Definitions of Knowledge by Aristotle, Leibniz, Kant and Rorty
The field of philosophy primarily deals with ways of thinking about a variety of topics. These thinking practices then leads the philosopher to a kind of personalized knowledge about the subject of his or her thought. Indeed, knowledge has been the subject of philosophy for the duration of its existence. Philosophy then aims for the ultimate goal of knowledge through reasoning. Below the various definitions of knowledge considered by the philosophers Aristotle, Leibniz, Kant and Rorty are addressed in an attempt to arrive at an integrated definition of knowledge containing elements of all four philosophies. Aristotle's view of knowledge is fundamentally empirical. According to the philosopher, anything can be known by means of detailed observation and cataloging. This is the scientific approach to knowledge. Furthermore evidence was also at the basis of the Aristotelian understanding of knowledge. Aristotle's empirical methodology of study included the study of previous writings, examining current opinion, and a study of everything related to the topic at hand. In this way he would arrive at objective, empirical knowledge regarding his subject of study. This empirical paradigm was applied even to areas not logically c
Whereas Aristotle and Leibniz externalize knowledge, assuming that there are universal truths that can be applied to all human beings and all knowledge, Kant on the other hand acknowledges the differentiation of perception in his philosophy of knowledge. Kant does not reject reason, but in fact rejects philosophies that deny the necessary and universal causal connections. On the other hand, he also recognizes that individual human knowledge is limited. This substantiates and validates Aristotle's empirical methodology of research - gathering the views of others before making his own observations and drawing his own conclusions. To delineate this view, Leibniz distinguishes four logical principles entailed in his view of all truth. The first of these is the principle of contradiction, connected with the truth of reason. This truth satisfies a finite number of essential features, for example the elements of being human. These are then truths that remain constant, regardless of external influences. The second principle is the one of sufficient reason, that is connected with the truths of fact. These are truths relating to an infinite number of variable conditions. Being an oldest child is an example of this kind of truth. The principle of identity of indiscernibles relates to the fact that each thing in every possible world has a unique identity formed of a variable set of characteristics. These cannot be copied in exactly the same way by any other substance in the world. The principle of plenum (or plenitude) holds in
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