The Foundations of knowledge

360 Pages·1968·67.506 MB·English

by  E. P. Papanoutsos

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TRENT UNIVERSITY
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THE FOUNDATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE

T h e Foundations
ot Knowledge
Evangelos P. Papanoutsos
Edited, and with an Introduction by
JO H N P. A N TO N
Translated by
BASIL COUKIS and JO H N P. A N TO N
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
A L B A N Y , N E W Y O R K
Copyright (c) 1968
by Evangelos P. Papanoutsos
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress
Catalog Card Number 68-19533
Printed in the United States of A
PROLOGUE
The inquiry into the foundations of knowledge is a systematic in­
quiry into the problem of truth. This problem constitutes one of the
three main concerns of philosophical analysis, the others being the
problem of beauty and the problem of goodness.
The first contributions to this inquiry were made by the ancients:
the Sophists, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. But the truly great growth
of this branch of philosophy did not come until the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, when the problem of truth became the central
concern of philosophers. Most intimately associated with this develop­
ment in philosophy are the names of Descartes and Kant. For Descartes
a solution to the problem of “method” and for Kant a solution to the
problem of the “conditions of knowledge” preceded any other type of
philosophical inquiry. The basic question in modern philosophy has
thus been how certain knowledge is attained and verified. Until this
question is answered, modern philosophers have not believed it pos­
sible to give a firm and reliable explanation of man's external and
internal world, or—what amounts to the same thing—to reach scientific
truth about the world and man. Viewing in retrospect the spectacular
gains in the natural and social sciences over the last four centuries,
we can say with confidence that this progress was due in no small
measure to the unceasing philosophical interest in the “method” and
the “conditions” of knowledge—what is now called “epistemology.”
The record of modern science teaches us that the student of the natural
and social sciences can hardly hope to achieve worthwhile results
unless he has clarified in his own mind the conditions and standards
of scientific truth. In this he differs from the artist, who has no need
of special training in aesthetics to fulfill his function successfully, and
from the moral man of action, who needs no schooling in ethical
theory to alert him to the nature of his duty and the method by which
to execute it.
The present investigation is a critical one. The language of philos­
ophy calls critical (by contrast with dogmatic) that line of reasoning
which, before accepting a given truth, demands and examines its
PROLOGUE
credentials. Critical philosophy adheres to this principle regardless of
where a truth may originate and regardless of the pretensions with
which it may be presented. Critical thought owes its power to the
uncompromising investigation and self-examination it constantly
conducts, in order both to determine the criteria of warranted knowl­
edge and to mark with the utmost accuracy the limits beyond which it
cannot proceed. Thanks to critical thinking, theoretical consciousness
has been able to confine both its objects of investigation and its am­
bitions to the realm of the possible—within the limits of human
understanding.
Due to the exertions of the critical mind the edifice of science is
now more solidly built and far more stable than in any other period
in the past. Undoubtedly, the objectives and results of critical thinking
are difficult and sometimes even unpleasant. For nobody gives up his
expectations easily: either because a man is accustomed to considering
some beliefs as certain or because he cannot give up his convictions,
he does not welcome the scrutiny of what, for him, is absolutely settled.
But without determination and sacrifices the mind can neither discover
nor evaluate the real treasures which may lie hidden underneath the
sham. It must demolish first and build afterwards; and if it values
certainty, it will demolish much and build little. The exercise of
critical thought is therefore a painful task; and, since it requires the
mind to be constantly and intensively on the alert, it constitutes a very
difficult accomplishment for the limited powers of man. In essence,
the whole effort of philosophy at the supreme moments of its history
consisted in preparing and training critical thought, which would save
man and the dignity of man from the dangerous fascination of dogma­
tism. The most brilliant minds worked in that direction: Socrates,
Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant. Nevertheless, philosophical
thought can never be sufficiently critical; it continually tries to become
even more so, precisely because it knows how powerful the attraction
of dogmatism is.
Our investigation hopefully will show why it is that only when
philosophic thought explores the epistemological topics in a strictly
critical fashion does it succeed in rising above the traditional anti­
theses (realism and idealism, empiricism and rationalism, pragmatism
and intellectualism, etc.), and is thus able to reach a new and more
stable position. It may well be that the various “isms" make useful
chapter headings, but in the end they lapse into unacceptable over­
simplifications. They deprive problems of their third dimension; they
supply too many facile solutions. Actually, all “isms” represent more
or less dogmatic extremes: developments and variations on the theme