Aaron Powner, M.Ed.
HS Science Teacher – Biology & Chemistry
Website: http://mr.powner.org
Email: apowner@spectrumcharter.org
TRUTH vs. KNOWLEDGE
Time Required for Lesson: 2-3 Days + 1 Day for Assessment Activity
Big Ideas List
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Philosophy
Knowledge Theory
Truth Theory
Modern Science Philosophy
I. Philosophy
A. Etymology - from the Greek philosophia meaning "love of wisdom"
B. Branches - many "schools" of philosophy have developed over thousands of years. Each has its
own approach to gaining knowledge and defining reality.
C. Belief - simple definition - an idea that is held to be true (with or without justification)
D. Justification - reason(s) to accept an idea as true (evidence)
E. Truth
1. Limited Sense Definition - a truth is a fact of reality.
2. Ultimate Sense Definition - Truth is the sum total of reality; things as they really are, or
really were, or really will be.
F. Knowledge
1. The Latin word scientia means "knowledge"
2. Sort-of Simple Definition -- Familiarity with ideas and beliefs, along with associated
justification and applications.
3. Academic Definition -- knowledge is seen as the overlap of justified belief and truth,
therefore knowledge is accepted as established truth.
4. Purpose -- knowledge theory seeks to understand how ideas are developed, expressed,
received, and justified
II. Knowledge Theory
A. Epistemology – aka Knowledge Theory
1. Etymology: from Greek episteme meaning "knowledge" and -ology meaning "the study of"
2. The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.
3. Epistemology has been evolving for thousands of years.
B. Main Questions of Epistemology
1. What is knowledge?
2. How is knowledge gained?
3. To what extent can truth be known?
C. Big Ideas within Epistemology
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1. Subject - the perceiver of objects. Involves intelligence. A subject must possess senses and a
means to process the same (the human brain is a powerful difference engine); one subject
can perceive itself or other subjects as individual objects
2. Object - that which is perceived. Involves interpretation of reality. An object possesses
properties and relations to other objects that can be perceived by intelligent subjects
3. Phenomenon (pl. Phenomena) - an event, a process or pattern of change in the properties
of objects or relationships between multiple objects
4. Stimulus (pl. Stimuli) - sensory input caused by any object or phenomenon. The human brain
receives billions of bits of information per second from the senses, but it filters out most of
this, focusing on processing only relevant information
5. Perception - when the mind becomes aware of and pays attention to (focuses) a set of
sensory information and begins to process it
6. Intelligence - the ability to perceive objects, tell the difference between them, and react to
them
7. Memory - retained information about perceptions, ideas, symbols, and processes. The
human brain has short-term and long-term memory, with a memory capacity of about 2,500
terabytes or 2.5 petabytes (ref).
8. Concept / Idea - a mental image of an object or phenomenon. When a subject begins to
process related perceptions, the imagination creates a mental model of reality and begins to
analyze, interpret, remember, and react to objects or events in its surroundings. Etymology
of these synonyms: the word concept is from the Latin concipere which means "to take in
and hold" and the word idea is from the Greek idein which means "to see or know"
9. Symbol - a practical representation of an object or phenomenon for communication [words
(spoken, written, or signed), drawings, etc.]
10. Concrete Ideas - a concept that relates only to direct physical perceptions, usually tied to
external objects
11. Abstract Ideas - more complex concepts which are made of frameworks of concrete (or less
abstract) ideas -- often in the absence of an external object. Examples: love, faith, hate, etc.
A concept/idea can itself be an object which can be perceived.
12. Schema - a framework of related concrete and abstract ideas which represents a "big
picture" understanding of a domain (theme) of knowledge
13. Comprehensive World-View - the entire framework of all schemata that forms the basis of
the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society. This framework
encompasses the entirety of the individual or society's knowledge and point-of-view,
including: (1) natural philosophy; (2) fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; (3)
themes of values, emotions, and ethics; and (4) perception of reality.
14. Cognition - all mental processes involved in thinking and learning. The human brain is
capable of processing information at about 38 thousand trillion operations per second (ref);
most of this is subconscious; the degree of conscious brain activity depends on the nature of
the task, usually dealing with about seven bits of information at a time and processing a few
dozen ideas per second (ref). Categories of cognitive processes include:
a. Receiving Ideas - learning and communicating
1) Perception - of information about objects via the senses
2) Forming Ideas/Concepts - imagining objects
3) Remembering Ideas - short-term and long-term memory
4) Symbolizing Ideas –words (spoken, written, or signed), drawings, etc. for
communication purposes
b. Responding to Ideas - deductive reasoning
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1) Analysis of Ideas - organizing, characterizing, and inferring meaning of ideas
2) Evaluation of Ideas - testing, gathering evidence (justification), determining
degree of certainty, and judging the truth value of ideas
3) Application of Ideas - planning and problem solving with existing ideas
4) Adapting to New Ideas - adjusting prior knowledge or behavior to new
information
5) Levels of Deductive Response to Ideas - guided response, mechanical
response, independent response, transferred response
c. Creating New Ideas - inductive reasoning
1) Abstracting more complex ideas from simpler ones (theorizing)
2) Creating new applications of ideas (techniques)
III. Truth Theory
A. Truth-Related Philosophies
1. Idealism - Reality is a product of the mind, no external reality exists, objects of perception
are actually ideas in the mind
2. Realism - Reality is independent of the mind. Because reality is external to one's self: (1)
there is only one version of truth, no separate truths exist for scientific and non-scientific
ways of knowing; (2) we can perceive or discover part of the whole truth, but we cannot
know by scientific means whether our knowledge is correct or complete in the ultimate
sense; and (3) truth does not have to be perceived, understood, believed, or justified to still
be true. Realism-related ideas:
a. Materialism - nothing exists beyond matter and energy; this philosophy denies any
separate existence of mind, spirit, deity, or other transcendent (supernatural)
entities or realities
b. Empiricism - knowledge must be supported experimentally with evidence based on
the physical senses (experimental science)
c. Rationalism - knowledge may be derived from reason independently of the senses
(theoretical science)
3. Phenominalism - there is no way to prove external reality exists (ignore idealism vs realism
debate), so the focus should be on interpretation of sensory perceptions
4. Relativism - an individual or society's world view is influenced by culture, personal
experience, emotions, values, ethics, and memories -- "your understanding of reality is
different from my understanding of reality"
B. Individual Truth Theories - The following list of truth theories assists in determining whether any
particular idea or schema is likely to be true. This list has been evolving in formal philosophy
studies for thousands of years.
1. Correspondence Theory - true ideas correspond to external reality (accuracy)
2. Coherence Theory - true ideas must be consistently true in all situations (precision)
3. Perspective Theory - ideas are true from a certain point of view (i.e., relativism)
4. Consensus Theory - ideas are more likely to be true when they are believed by the majority
of experts (i.e., broadly accepted scientific theories)
5. Construction Theory - perception of true ideas is shaped (or even limited) by culture and
social conditions (i.e., world view)
6. Tradition Theory - ideas are more likely to be true when they have been accepted for many
generations
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7. Pragmatism Theory - true ideas are verified by successful practical application, and they will
eventually be accepted by the majority via rational and scientific inquiry (the "test of time"
or "time will tell" or “it just works” approach)
8. Pluralism Theory - as more of the above truth conditions are met, the higher is the degree of
certainty that the idea is true
IV. Modern Science Philosophy
A. Foundational Assumptions of Modern Science Philosophy
1. Realism, Materialism, Empiricism, and Rationalism
a. We all share a single reality that continues to exist when its observers do not
b. This shortcuts all the argumentation so we can move forward
2. Causality
a. There are natural causes for things that happen in the world around us
b. Reality is governed by natural laws
c. Natural laws can be discovered
3. Uniformity
a. There is consistency in the causes that operate in the natural world
b. Natural laws have been operating in the same way and at the same rate since the birth
of our universe
c. Natural laws apply everywhere in the universe
4. Uncertainty
a. It is impossible to know everything about anything
b. It is possible to know more about everything
B. Limitations of Scientific Knowledge
1. Our senses have biological limitations. Even technological devices for extending these
limitations have their own limits of accuracy and range.
2. Our mental processing of sensory data is not always reliable. We are influenced by previous
experience, biases, and degrees of attention. We may not be interpreting the data correctly.
3. It is impossible to know if we have considered all possible alternative explanations.
4. Science knowledge is necessarily contingent knowledge. It is not absolute knowledge. It is
dependent on available evidence, circumstances, tools, and our imperfect analysis.
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