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This 3 page paper examines the idea of knowledge or the branch of philosophy called epistemology. Locke and Hume are the focus of this paper. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA441kn.rtf
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that is known is what is presently occurring. In fact, how can one be sure that the past is the past? How does one know whether or not astronauts really
made it to the moon. Skeptics claim that the event never happened. Is Elvis dead? Is John F. Kennedy alive? Are aliens real? So many strange ideas abound and it
is hard to know whether something is real or can be disputed. Philosophers from long ago had similar concerns. Roger Bacon, for example, emphasized pragmatic inquiry and William of Ockham
in the fourteenth century claimed that all knowledge is experiential; from there emanated philosophers like Locke and Hume, each sharing similar beliefs (Hitchens, 2003). In fact, in relation to
this area of study, the theories of identity and substance have come from the writings of both Locke and Hume as well as others (Scott, 2004). David Humes ideas
about knowledge are very powerful. He held that people acquire beliefs about things that are not experienced in a certain manner. Using the example of a flame, he would contend
that one concludes it is hot not because one starts from a present impression or the sight of the flame (Honderich, 1995). One will of course possess an impression from
the sight, and supposes that there is a causal relationship between the flames and the heat and supposes that it is hot (1995). Hence, knowledge comes from experience but it
also comes from comprehension and using ones mind to discern answers. Locke on the other hand begins his investigation into human knowledge by proposing that one acquires basic materials from
which knowledge is composed and these come in the form of ideas ("Locke," 2004). Ideas include things such as images as well as abstract thinking (2004). Still, Locke asks:
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