Truth Criteria, Philosophy History: From Myth to Logos
Criteria of Truth as Correspondence
- Perception and Direct Experience: The data obtained through the basic senses provide vital information. Gestalt psychology concluded that the human mind processes sensory information, rebuilds, and orders it. They distinguished between sensation (information received by the senses) and perception (the same information after the mind has processed it).
- Scientific Ascertainment: The scientific method provides facts through experiments and observations. Science has led to the acceptance of ideas that once seemed absurd.
- Other Sources of Information: Many sources exist, such as newspapers, encyclopedias, and websites. These involve intermediaries, and not all are equally reliable. Data from the senses and scientific information can be fallible, but are generally reliable and provide assurance.
Beliefs, Rational and Good Reasons
Beliefs are propositions that are considered true. Theoretical rationality aims to provide good reasons to support or reject a belief.
Good and Bad Reasons
A reason is good if it matches a criterion of truth.
- For Analytical Statements: Good reasons are logical principles.
- For Synthetic Statements: Good reasons relate to perception, experimentation, and the scientific method. Beliefs based on good theoretical reasons and rationality are a great aspiration of humanity.
The Philosophy and its History
In the history of philosophy, philosophers find inspiration for new ideas, a fulcrum for reflection, or reasoning to defend a thesis.
From Myth to Logos
This transition signifies a change in mentality, replacing mythical tales with rational and critical knowledge.
Ancient Philosophy (6th Century BC – 4th Century AD)
The first philosophers (Presocratics) sought a single principle to explain everything. Their main concern was nature. Thinkers included Thales, Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Pythagoras. Socrates, with his focus on moral questions, was highly influential, as was his pupil Plato.
Medieval Philosophy (4th – 14th Centuries)
In Europe, philosophy was characterized by theology. Religious faith became central to philosophical issues. Thinkers included St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas. Arab philosophy and science, represented by Averroes, preserved and translated Greek culture.
Modern Philosophy (17th – 18th Centuries)
Rationalism: True knowledge arises from reason. Its model is geometry. Representatives: Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza.
Empiricism: Knowledge arises from the senses and experience. Defenders: Locke, Hume.
Contemporary Philosophy (19th Century – Present)
Opposing currents emerged, such as idealism and positivism. Idealism emphasizes the role of mind and spirit in the structure of the world (Friedrich Schelling and Georg W.F. Hegel). Positivism holds that experience and sensory information are fundamental (Auguste Comte). Logical positivism, a path of positivism, states that non-empirical realities are meaningless. Thinkers include Karl Marx, Unamuno, Russell, and Ortega y Gasset.