Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology , and its meaning and significance in both fields is the subject of continued debate.
94-522: Epistemology , a branch of philosophy , is concerned with the question of what, if anything, humans can know. The answer to the issue of whether or not a human can be infallible depends on the philosophical school. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines infallibility as "Inability to err in teaching revealed truth". Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology claim that the Church
188-508: A relation between a knower and a known proposition , in the case above between the person Ravi and the proposition "kangaroos hop". It is use-independent since it is not tied to one specific purpose. It is a mental representation that relies on concepts and ideas to depict reality. Because of its theoretical nature, it is often held that only relatively sophisticated creatures, such as humans, possess propositional knowledge. Propositional knowledge contrasts with non-propositional knowledge in
282-412: A series of thought experiments that aimed to show that some justified true beliefs do not amount to knowledge. In one of them, a person is unaware of all the fake barns in their area. By coincidence, they stop in front of the only real barn and form a justified true belief that it is a real barn. Many epistemologists agree that this is not knowledge because the justification is not directly relevant to
376-442: A belief is information that favors or supports it. Epistemologists understand evidence primarily in terms of mental states, for example, as sensory impressions or as other propositions that a person knows. But in a wider sense, it can also include physical objects, like bloodstains examined by forensic analysts or financial records studied by investigative journalists. Evidence is often understood in terms of probability : evidence for
470-473: A belief is justified if the individual's evidence supports the belief and they hold the belief on the basis of this evidence. Reliabilism is an externalist theory asserting that a reliable connection between belief and truth is required for justification. Some reliabilists explain this in terms of reliable processes. According to this view, a belief is justified if it is produced by a reliable belief-formation process, like perception. A belief-formation process
564-612: A belief makes it more likely that the belief is true. A defeater is evidence against a belief or evidence that undermines another piece of evidence. For instance, witness testimony connecting a suspect to a crime is evidence for their guilt while an alibi is a defeater. Evidentialists analyze justification in terms of evidence by saying that to be justified, a belief needs to rest on adequate evidence. The presence of evidence usually affects doubt and certainty , which are subjective attitudes toward propositions that differ regarding their level of confidence. Doubt involves questioning
658-592: A belief, known as propositional justification , but also in whether the person holds the belief because or based on this reason, known as doxastic justification . For example, if a person has sufficient reason to believe that a neighborhood is dangerous but forms this belief based on superstition then they have propositional justification but lack doxastic justification. Sources of justification are ways or cognitive capacities through which people acquire justification. Often-discussed sources include perception , introspection , memory , reason , and testimony , but there
752-711: A believer from Azerbaijan . ʻAbdu'l-Bahá described infallibility as being of two kinds: the "essential infallibility" of the Manifestations of God, and the "acquired infallibility" of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice. In the Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá , he describes both the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice as being "under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under
846-414: A common view, this means that the person has sufficient reasons for holding this belief because they have information that supports it. Another view states that a belief is justified if it is formed by a reliable belief formation process, such as perception. The terms reasonable , warranted , and supported are closely related to the idea of justification and are sometimes used as synonyms. Justification
940-573: A disease helps a doctor cure their patient, and knowledge of when a job interview starts helps a candidate arrive on time. The usefulness of a known fact depends on the circumstances. Knowledge of some facts may have little to no uses, like memorizing random phone numbers from an outdated phone book. Being able to assess the value of knowledge matters in choosing what information to acquire and transmit to others. It affects decisions like which subjects to teach at school and how to allocate funds to research projects. Of particular interest to epistemologists
1034-452: A letter, a newspaper, and a blog. Rationality is closely related to justification and the terms rational belief and justified belief are sometimes used as synonyms. However, rationality has a wider scope that encompasses both a theoretical side, covering beliefs, and a practical side, covering decisions , intentions , and actions . There are different conceptions about what it means for something to be rational. According to one view,
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#17327730752771128-671: A matter of astronomy". Maimonides wrote that the great sages are not expected to advocate positions perfectly in-line with modern science because they were "scholars of that generation," often basing their assessments of what "they learned from the scholars of the era." In the Hasidic tradition, however, infallibility is taught in the Chabad tradition in connection with a rebbe . In the Bhagavad Gita , Krishna explains to Arjuna (Bg 15.16 to 15.20): There are two classes of beings,
1222-416: A mental state is rational if it is based on or responsive to good reasons. Another view emphasizes the role of coherence, stating that rationality requires that the different mental states of a person are consistent and support each other. A slightly different approach holds that rationality is about achieving certain goals. Two goals of theoretical rationality are accuracy and comprehensiveness, meaning that
1316-410: A person already has, asserting that a person should only change their beliefs if they have a good reason to. One motivation for adopting epistemic conservatism is that the cognitive resources of humans are limited, meaning that it is not feasible to constantly reexamine every belief. Pragmatist epistemology is a form of fallibilism that emphasizes the close relation between knowing and acting. It sees
1410-744: A person has as few false beliefs and as many true beliefs as possible. Epistemic norms are criteria to assess the cognitive quality of beliefs, like their justification and rationality. Epistemologists distinguish between deontic norms, which are prescriptions about what people should believe or which beliefs are correct, and axiological norms, which identify the goals and values of beliefs. Epistemic norms are closely related to intellectual or epistemic virtues , which are character traits like open-mindedness and conscientiousness . Epistemic virtues help individuals form true beliefs and acquire knowledge. They contrast with epistemic vices and act as foundational concepts of virtue epistemology . Evidence for
1504-419: A person knows depends on the subjective criteria or social conventions used to assess epistemic status. The debate between empiricism and rationalism centers on the origins of human knowledge. Empiricism emphasizes that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge. Some empiricists express this view by stating that the mind is a blank slate that only develops ideas about the external world through
1598-507: A posteriori knowledge. A priori knowledge is knowledge of non-empirical facts and does not depend on evidence from sensory experience. It belongs to fields such as mathematics and logic , like knowing that 2 + 2 = 4 {\displaystyle 2+2=4} . The contrast between a posteriori and a priori knowledge plays a central role in the debate between empiricists and rationalists on whether all knowledge depends on sensory experience. A closely related contrast
1692-412: A true or a false proposition. According to the correspondence theory of truth , to be true means to stand in the right relation to the world by accurately describing what it is like. This means that truth is objective: a belief is true if it corresponds to a fact . The coherence theory of truth says that a belief is true if it belongs to a coherent system of beliefs. A result of this view is that truth
1786-461: A view] "inherently violates the precept of Hilkheta Ke-Vatra'ei, that is, the law is according to the later scholars. This rule dates from the Geonic period. It laid down that until the time of Rabbis Abbaye and Rava (4th century) the halakha was to be decided according to the views of the earlier scholars, but from that time onward, the halakhic opinions of post-talmudic scholars would prevail over
1880-535: A widely held view in Orthodox Judaism , the Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of rabbis of previous eras unless they find support from other rabbis in previous eras. On the other hand, this view is not formally a part of halakha itself, and according to some rabbis is a violation of the halakhic system. In The Principles of Jewish Law , Orthodox rabbi Menachem Elon writes that: [such
1974-402: Is and what types of knowledge there are. It further investigates the sources of knowledge, like perception , inference , and testimony , to determine how knowledge is created. Another topic is the extent and limits of knowledge, confronting questions about what people can and cannot know. Other central concepts include belief , truth , justification , evidence , and reason . Epistemology
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#17327730752772068-408: Is a closely related process focused not on external physical objects but on internal mental states . For example, seeing a bus at a bus station belongs to perception while feeling tired belongs to introspection. Rationalists understand reason as a source of justification for non-empirical facts. It is often used to explain how people can know about mathematical, logical, and conceptual truths. Reason
2162-409: Is a comparative term, meaning that to know something involves distinguishing it from relevant alternatives. For example, if a person spots a bird in the garden, they may know that it is a sparrow rather than an eagle but they may not know that it is a sparrow rather than an indistinguishable sparrow hologram. Epistemic conservatism is a view about belief revision . It gives preference to the beliefs
2256-521: Is a special epistemic good that, unlike knowledge, is always intrinsically valuable. Wisdom is similar in this regard and is sometimes considered the highest epistemic good. It encompasses a reflective understanding with practical applications. It helps people grasp and evaluate complex situations and lead a good life. Philosophical skepticism questions the human ability to arrive at knowledge. Some skeptics limit their criticism to certain domains of knowledge. For example, religious skeptics say that it
2350-439: Is also responsible for inferential knowledge, in which one or several beliefs are used as premises to support another belief. Memory depends on information provided by other sources, which it retains and recalls, like remembering a phone number perceived earlier. Justification by testimony relies on information one person communicates to another person. This can happen by talking to each other but can also occur in other forms, like
2444-458: Is an oversimplification of much more complex psychological processes. Beliefs play a central role in various epistemological debates, which cover their status as a component of propositional knowledge, the question of whether people have control over and are responsible for their beliefs , and the issue of whether there are degrees of beliefs, called credences . As propositional attitudes, beliefs are true or false depending on whether they affirm
2538-424: Is better because it is more stable. Another suggestion focuses on practical reasoning . It proposes that people put more trust in knowledge than in mere true beliefs when drawing conclusions and deciding what to do. A different response says that knowledge has intrinsic value, meaning that it is good in itself independent of its usefulness. Beliefs are mental states about what is the case, like believing that snow
2632-403: Is between analytic and synthetic truths . A sentence is analytically true if its truth depends only on the meaning of the words it uses. For instance, the sentence "all bachelors are unmarried" is analytically true because the word "bachelor" already includes the meaning "unmarried". A sentence is synthetically true if its truth depends on additional facts. For example, the sentence "snow is white"
2726-413: Is closely related to psychology , which describes the beliefs people hold, while epistemology studies the norms governing the evaluation of beliefs. It also intersects with fields such as decision theory , education , and anthropology . Early reflections on the nature, sources, and scope of knowledge are found in ancient Greek , Indian , and Chinese philosophy . The relation between reason and faith
2820-439: Is correct. Some philosophers, such as Timothy Williamson , reject the basic assumption underlying the analysis of knowledge by arguing that propositional knowledge is a unique state that cannot be dissected into simpler components. The value of knowledge is the worth it holds by expanding understanding and guiding action. Knowledge can have instrumental value by helping a person achieve their goals. For example, knowledge of
2914-507: Is determined solely by mental states or also by external circumstances. Separate branches of epistemology are dedicated to knowledge found in specific fields, like scientific, mathematical, moral, and religious knowledge. Naturalized epistemology relies on empirical methods and discoveries, whereas formal epistemology uses formal tools from logic . Social epistemology investigates the communal aspect of knowledge and historical epistemology examines its historical conditions. Epistemology
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3008-614: Is essential for the protection of the Cause, even if it is something that affects a person personally, he must be obeyed, but when he gives advice, such as that he gave you in a previous letter about your future, it is not binding; you are free to follow it or not as you please. Epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge . Also called theory of knowledge , it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge in
3102-416: Is important for explaining the nature of illusions. Constructivism in epistemology is the theory that how people view the world is not a simple reflection of external reality but an invention or a social construction. This view emphasizes the creative role of interpretation while undermining objectivity since social constructions may differ from society to society. According to contrastivism , knowledge
3196-460: Is impossible to have certain knowledge about the existence of deities or other religious doctrines. Similarly, moral skeptics challenge the existence of moral knowledge and metaphysical skeptics say that humans cannot know ultimate reality. Global skepticism is the widest form of skepticism, asserting that there is no knowledge in any domain. In ancient philosophy , this view was accepted by academic skeptics while Pyrrhonian skeptics recommended
3290-607: Is infallible, but disagree as to where infallibility exists, whether in doctrines, scripture, or church authorities. In Catholic theology, Jesus , who is the Truth, is infallible, but only a special act of teaching by the church's bishops may properly be called "infallible". According to the First Vatican Council (1869–71) and as reaffirmed at Vatican II (1962–1965), the earthly head of the Catholic Church,
3384-493: Is infallible. They also completely reject the Catholic claim regarding papal infallibility, citing not just scriptural reasons, but also the many times popes have contradicted each other and the history of mistakes committed by many popes throughout Roman Catholic Church history. Because of the complexity in defining infallibility, some Protestant and non-denominational views confuse papal infallibility with impeccability , as if
3478-443: Is itself a knowledge claim. Another objection says that the abstract reasoning leading to skepticism is not convincing enough to overrule common sense. Fallibilism is another response to skepticism. Fallibilists agree with skeptics that absolute certainty is impossible. Most fallibilists disagree with skeptics about the existence of knowledge, saying that there is knowledge since it does not require absolute certainty. They emphasize
3572-423: Is never certain. Empiricists hold that all knowledge comes from sense experience, whereas rationalists believe that some knowledge does not depend on it. Coherentists argue that a belief is justified if it coheres with other beliefs. Foundationalists , by contrast, maintain that the justification of basic beliefs does not depend on other beliefs. Internalism and externalism disagree about whether justification
3666-469: Is no universal agreement to what extent they all provide valid justification. Perception relies on sensory organs to gain empirical information. There are various forms of perception corresponding to different physical stimuli, such as visual , auditory , haptic , olfactory , and gustatory perception. Perception is not merely the reception of sense impressions but an active process that selects, organizes, and interprets sensory signals . Introspection
3760-497: Is one of the main branches of philosophy besides fields like ethics , logic , and metaphysics . The term is also used in a slightly different sense to refer not to the branch of philosophy but to a particular position within that branch, as in Plato 's epistemology and Immanuel Kant 's epistemology. As a normative field of inquiry, epistemology explores how people should acquire beliefs. This way, it determines which beliefs fulfill
3854-408: Is relative since it depends on other beliefs. Further theories of truth include pragmatist , semantic , pluralist , and deflationary theories . Truth plays a central role in epistemology as a goal of cognitive processes and a component of propositional knowledge. In epistemology, justification is a property of beliefs that fulfill certain norms about what a person should believe. According to
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3948-407: Is relevant to many descriptive and normative disciplines, such as the other branches of philosophy and the sciences, by exploring the principles of how they may arrive at knowledge. The word epistemology comes from the ancient Greek terms ἐπιστήμη (episteme, meaning knowledge or understanding ) and λόγος (logos, meaning study of or reason ), literally, the study of knowledge. The word
4042-412: Is reliable if most of the beliefs it causes are true. A slightly different view focuses on beliefs rather than belief-formation processes, saying that a belief is justified if it is a reliable indicator of the fact it presents. This means that the belief tracks the fact: the person believes it because it is a fact but would not believe it otherwise. Virtue epistemology is another type of externalism and
4136-420: Is sometimes understood as a form of reliabilism. It says that a belief is justified if it manifests intellectual virtues. Intellectual virtues are capacities or traits that perform cognitive functions and help people form true beliefs. Suggested examples include faculties like vision, memory, and introspection. In the epistemology of perception, direct and indirect realists disagree about the connection between
4230-405: Is synthetically true because its truth depends on the color of snow in addition to the meanings of the words snow and white . A priori knowledge is primarily associated with analytic sentences while a posteriori knowledge is primarily associated with synthetic sentences. However, it is controversial whether this is true for all cases. Some philosophers, such as Willard Van Orman Quine , reject
4324-462: Is taken by radical skeptics , who argue that there is no knowledge at all. Epistemologists distinguish between different types of knowledge. Their primary interest is in knowledge of facts, called propositional knowledge . It is a theoretical knowledge that can be expressed in declarative sentences using a that-clause, like "Ravi knows that kangaroos hop". For this reason, it is also called knowledge-that . Epistemologists often understand it as
4418-416: Is the dream argument . It starts from the observation that, while people are dreaming, they are usually unaware of this. This inability to distinguish between dream and regular experience is used to argue that there is no certain knowledge since a person can never be sure that they are not dreaming. Some critics assert that global skepticism is a self-refuting idea because denying the existence of knowledge
4512-414: Is the case if the beliefs are consistent and support each other. According to coherentism, justification is a holistic aspect determined by the whole system of beliefs, which resembles an interconnected web. The view of foundherentism is an intermediary position combining elements of both foundationalism and coherentism. It accepts the distinction between basic and non-basic beliefs while asserting that
4606-405: Is the question of whether knowledge is more valuable than a mere opinion that is true. Knowledge and true opinion often have a similar usefulness since both are accurate representations of reality. For example, if a person wants to go to Larissa , a true opinion about how to get there may help them in the same way as knowledge does. Plato already considered this problem and suggested that knowledge
4700-623: Is true, and that they have complete knowledge about right and wrong and never intend to disobey God. It is also held by Shi'as that there were 124,000 Prophets , beginning with Adam and ending with Muhammad - with all, including the last, being infallible in the same sense as the Ahl al-Bayt. The notion of infallibility in Judaism as it relates to the Tannaim and Amoraim of the Talmud , as well as
4794-427: Is wet. According to foundationalism, basic beliefs are the foundation on which all other knowledge is built while non-basic beliefs constitute the superstructure resting on this foundation. Coherentists reject the distinction between basic and non-basic beliefs, saying that the justification of any belief depends on other beliefs. They assert that a belief must be in tune with other beliefs to amount to knowledge. This
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#17327730752774888-407: Is what distinguishes justified beliefs from superstition and lucky guesses. However, justification does not guarantee truth. For example, if a person has strong but misleading evidence, they may form a justified belief that is false. Epistemologists often identify justification as one component of knowledge. Usually, they are not only interested in whether a person has a sufficient reason to hold
4982-601: Is white or that God exists . In epistemology, they are often understood as subjective attitudes that affirm or deny a proposition , which can be expressed in a declarative sentence . For instance, to believe that snow is white is to affirm the proposition "snow is white". According to this view, beliefs are representations of what the world is like. They are kept in memory and can be retrieved when actively thinking about reality or when deciding how to act. A different view understands beliefs as behavioral patterns or dispositions to act rather than as representational items stored in
5076-704: The Shulchan Aruch ( שׁוּלחָן עָרוּך , "Set Table", a common printed code of Jewish law, 1563 CE) and following the Geonim (589–1038 CE). Rabbinic scholars subsequent to the Shulchan Aruch are generally known as acharonim ("the latter ones"). The distinction between the Rishonim and the Geonim is meaningful historically; in halakha (Jewish law) the distinction is less important. According to
5170-500: The Quran is an infallible text. In Shi'a theology, one of the two branches of Islam , the belief is that the Ahl al-Bayt , including Muhammad , his daughter Fatima Zahra and Shi'a Imams are all infallible. It is believed that they are infallible in the sense that all statements or teachings made by them can be relied on to be certainly true, that all information believed by themselves
5264-511: The Rishonim , Achronim and modern day Gedolim is one surrounded by debate. Some who reject infallibility cite the Talmud, Pesachim 94b: The sages of Israel say: "The sphere ( Earth ) remains fixed and the constellations revolve," while the sages of the nations say: "The sphere revolves and the constellations remain fixed."...the sages of Israel say: "during the day the sun moves below
5358-621: The Third Council of Constantinople (13th and 16th session) which anathematized Pope Honorius I for supporting the heresy of Monothelitism , and which Pope John XXII admitted when he retracted his views on the Beatific vision . Islam teaches that the teachings and guidance by the Prophets with regard to bringing the message of the One true God is infallible. Islam also teaches that
5452-543: The knowledge base of an expert system . Knowledge contrasts with ignorance , which is often simply defined as the absence of knowledge. Knowledge is usually accompanied by ignorance since people rarely have complete knowledge of a field, forcing them to rely on incomplete or uncertain information when making decisions. Even though many forms of ignorance can be mitigated through education and research, there are certain limits to human understanding that are responsible for inevitable ignorance. Some limitations are inherent in
5546-436: The suspension of belief to achieve a state of tranquility . Overall, not many epistemologists have explicitly defended global skepticism. The influence of this position derives mainly from attempts by other philosophers to show that their theory overcomes the challenge of skepticism. For example, René Descartes used methodological doubt to find facts that cannot be doubted. One consideration in favor of global skepticism
5640-473: The Pope , is infallible when speaking ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals (that is, when he explicitly intends to use his papal office to teach the whole Church definitively and irreformably on matters which deal directly with faith and morals). However, papal infallibility does not extend beyond such cases, thus making it possible for a Pope to sin and to be incorrect. Papal infallibility also belongs to
5734-511: The Pope were immune from sin. This is not the Catholic Church's doctrine, which concedes that Popes can sin and may even contradict one another's personal theological opinions. It is evident that the Pope can sin (which every Pope explicitly states in the Confiteor , and whenever he receives the Sacrament of Penance ) and a Pope may even succumb to heresy , as suggested in the condemnation by
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#17327730752775828-419: The belief following it and is supported by the belief preceding it. The disagreement between internalism and externalism is about the sources of justification. Internalists say that justification depends only on factors within the individual. Examples of such factors include perceptual experience, memories, and the possession of other beliefs. This view emphasizes the importance of the cognitive perspective of
5922-430: The belief in the right way. Another theory states that the belief is the product of a reliable belief formation process. Further approaches require that the person would not have the belief if it was false, that the belief is not inferred from a falsehood, that the justification cannot be undermined , or that the belief is infallible. There is no consensus on which of the proposed modifications and reconceptualizations
6016-405: The body of bishops as a whole, when, in doctrinal unity with the pope, they solemnly teach a doctrine as true. In contrast, Protestant and non-denominational Christian churches believe that the Christian Church is indeed fallible, as evidenced by the requirement of Christ's sacrifice on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, including those of his Church, and that only God's word in scripture
6110-507: The canopy (sky) and at night above the canopy," while the sages of the nations say: "during the day the sun moves below the canopy and at night below the ground." Rebbi said: "Their words seem more correct than ours..." The words of the Mishnah are commented on by numerous commentators, and Yehuda Levi argues that the Geonim and Maimonides perceived that the sages of the Talmud "erred in
6204-522: The circumstances under which they observed the cup. Evidentialism is an influential internalist view. It says that justification depends on the possession of evidence . In this context, evidence for a belief is any information in the individual's mind that supports the belief. For example, the perceptual experience of rain is evidence for the belief that it is raining. Evidentialists have suggested various other forms of evidence, including memories, intuitions, and other beliefs. According to evidentialism,
6298-405: The distinction, saying that there are no analytic truths. The analysis of knowledge is the attempt to identify the essential components or conditions of all and only propositional knowledge states. According to the so-called traditional analysis , knowledge has three components: it is a belief that is justified and true. In the second half of the 20th century, this view was put into doubt by
6392-588: The doctrine of the Most Great Infallibility ( al-'ismah al-kubra ) which applies to the Manifestations of God who founded the world's major religions, including Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, as well as the Báb (1819–1850) and Baháʼu'lláh (1817–1892), the prophet-founder of the faith. Infallibility also extends to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (1844–1921), the son of
6486-530: The faith's founder; to the Guardian of the faith Shoghi Effendi (1897–1957); and to the Universal House of Justice , the faith's nine-member supreme ruling body. In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas , the central religious text of the faith, Baháʼu'lláh describes himself as having "no partner in the Most Great Infallibility". He later expounds on the doctrine in the ʼIs͟hráqát , a tablet written circa 1885 to
6580-476: The fallible and the infallible. In the material world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible. Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered the three worlds and is maintaining them. Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am
6674-411: The form of knowledge-how and knowledge by acquaintance . Knowledge-how is a practical ability or skill, like knowing how to read or how to prepare lasagna . It is usually tied to a specific goal and not mastered in the abstract without concrete practice. To know something by acquaintance means to be familiar with it as a result of experiental contact. Examples are knowing the city of Perth , knowing
6768-474: The form of skills, and knowledge by acquaintance as a familiarity through experience. Epistemologists study the concepts of belief , truth , and justification to understand the nature of knowledge. To discover how knowledge arises, they investigate sources of justification, such as perception , introspection , memory , reason , and testimony . The school of skepticism questions the human ability to attain knowledge while fallibilism says that knowledge
6862-664: The greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person. Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is the knower of everything. He therefore engages himself in full devotional service to Me, O son of Bharata. This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection. The Baháʼí Faith teaches
6956-427: The human cognitive faculties themselves, such as the inability to know facts too complex for the human mind to conceive. Others depend on external circumstances when no access to the relevant information exists. Epistemologists disagree on how much people know, for example, whether fallible beliefs about everyday affairs can amount to knowledge or whether absolute certainty is required. The most stringent position
7050-417: The individual in the form of their mental states. It is commonly associated with the idea that the relevant factors are accessible, meaning that the individual can become aware of their reasons for holding a justified belief through introspection and reflection. Externalism rejects this view, saying that at least some relevant factors are external to the individual. This means that the cognitive perspective of
7144-405: The individual is less central while other factors, specifically the relation to truth, become more important. For instance, when considering the belief that a cup of coffee stands on the table, externalists are not only interested in the perceptual experience that led to this belief but also consider the quality of the person's eyesight, their ability to differentiate coffee from other beverages, and
7238-405: The justification of non-basic beliefs depends on coherence with other beliefs. Infinitism presents another approach to the structure of knowledge. It agrees with coherentism that there are no basic beliefs while rejecting the view that beliefs can support each other in a circular manner . Instead, it argues that beliefs form infinite justification chains, in which each link of the chain supports
7332-440: The main topic in epistemology, some theorists focus on understanding rather than knowledge. Understanding is a more holistic notion that involves a wider grasp of a subject. To understand something, a person requires awareness of how different things are connected and why they are the way they are. For example, knowledge of isolated facts memorized from a textbook does not amount to understanding. According to one view, understanding
7426-457: The mind possesses inborn ideas which it can access without the help of the senses. Others hold that there is an additional cognitive faculty, sometimes called rational intuition , through which people acquire nonempirical knowledge. Some rationalists limit their discussion to the origin of concepts, saying that the mind relies on inborn categories to understand the world and organize experience. Foundationalists and coherentists disagree about
7520-409: The mind. This view says that to believe that there is mineral water in the fridge is nothing more than a group of dispositions related to mineral water and the fridge. Examples are the dispositions to answer questions about the presence of mineral water affirmatively and to go to the fridge when thirsty. Some theorists deny the existence of beliefs, saying that this concept borrowed from folk psychology
7614-417: The need to keep an open and inquisitive mind since doubt can never be fully excluded, even for well-established knowledge claims like thoroughly tested scientific theories. Epistemic relativism is a related view. It does not question the existence of knowledge in general but rejects the idea that there are universal epistemic standards or absolute principles that apply equally to everyone. This means that what
7708-453: The perceiver and the perceived object. Direct realists say that this connection is direct, meaning that there is no difference between the object present in perceptual experience and the physical object causing this experience. According to indirect realism, the connection is indirect since there are mental entities, like ideas or sense data, that mediate between the perceiver and the external world. The contrast between direct and indirect realism
7802-411: The pursuit of knowledge as an ongoing process guided by common sense and experience while always open to revision. Rishonim Rishonim ( Hebrew: [ʁiʃoˈnim] ; Hebrew : ראשונים , lit. 'the first ones'; sing. ראשון , Rishon ) were the leading rabbis and poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of
7896-644: The sense data it receives from the sensory organs. According to them, the mind can arrive at various additional insights by comparing impressions, combining them, generalizing to arrive at more abstract ideas, and deducing new conclusions from them. Empiricists say that all these mental operations depend on material from the senses and do not function on their own. Even though rationalists usually accept sense experience as one source of knowledge, they also say that important forms of knowledge come directly from reason without sense experience, like knowledge of mathematical and logical truths. According to some rationalists,
7990-697: The shelter and unerring guidance of the Exalted One": Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and against them hath rebelled against God; whoso opposeth him hath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God; whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth aside from him hath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May
8084-411: The standards or epistemic goals of knowledge and which ones fail, thereby providing an evaluation of beliefs. Descriptive fields of inquiry, like psychology and cognitive sociology , are also interested in beliefs and related cognitive processes. Unlike epistemology, they study the beliefs people have and how people acquire them instead of examining the evaluative norms of these processes. Epistemology
8178-407: The structure of knowledge. Foundationalism distinguishes between basic and non-basic beliefs. A belief is basic if it is justified directly, meaning that its validity does not depend on the support of other beliefs. A belief is non-basic if it is justified by another belief. For example, the belief that it rained last night is a non-basic belief if it is inferred from the observation that the street
8272-421: The taste of tsampa , and knowing Marta Vieira da Silva personally. Another influential distinction is between a posteriori and a priori knowledge. A posteriori knowledge is knowledge of empirical facts based on sensory experience, like seeing that the sun is shining and smelling that a piece of meat has gone bad. Knowledge belonging to the empirical science and knowledge of everyday affairs belongs to
8366-409: The truth. More specifically, this and similar counterexamples involve some form of epistemic luck, that is, a cognitive success that results from fortuitous circumstances rather than competence. Following these thought experiments , philosophers proposed various alternative definitions of knowledge by modifying or expanding the traditional analysis. According to one view, the known fact has to cause
8460-400: The validity or truth of a proposition. Certainty, by contrast, is a strong affirmative conviction, meaning that the person is free of doubt that the proposition is true. In epistemology, doubt and certainty play central roles in attempts to find a secure foundation of all knowledge and in skeptical projects aiming to establish that no belief is immune to doubt. While propositional knowledge is
8554-405: The world. While this core sense is of particular interest to epistemologists, the term also has other meanings. Understood on a social level, knowledge is a characteristic of a group of people that share ideas, understanding, or culture in general. The term can also refer to information stored in documents, such as "knowledge housed in the library" or knowledge stored in computers in the form of
8648-404: The wrath, the fierce indignation, the vengeance of God rest upon him! Shoghi Effendi describes the limits of the Guardian's infallibility as such: The infallibility of the Guardian is confined to matters which are related strictly to the Cause and interpretation of the teachings; he is not an infallible authority on other subjects, such as economics, science, etc. When he feels that a certain thing
8742-434: Was a central topic in the medieval period . The modern era was characterized by the contrasting perspectives of empiricism and rationalism. Epistemologists in the 20th century examined the components, structure, and value of knowledge while integrating insights from the natural sciences and linguistics . Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge . Also called theory of knowledge , it examines what knowledge
8836-454: Was only coined in the 19th century to label this field and conceive it as a distinct branch of philosophy. Knowledge is an awareness, familiarity, understanding, or skill. Its various forms all involve a cognitive success through which a person establishes epistemic contact with reality. Knowledge is typically understood as an aspect of individuals, generally as a cognitive mental state that helps them understand, interpret, and interact with
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