Theme 1: Theory of knowledge and theory of science

1. Kant - Critique of Pure Reason

By the quote “our cognition must conform to objects” I think Kant means that our cognition of an object is formed by the object itself. What we see is based on previous experiences and theories, but what if we have no prior knowledge or the knowledge maybe isn’t the truth? Kant suggests to try a different perspective, that the objects must conform to our cognition – the other way around. One example of this is when Copernicus did change perspective. Instead of thinking the sun was spinning around the earth, he discovered that the earth was spinning around the sun. He studied it from the suns perspective.

2. Plato - Theaetetus

Socarates argues that we don’t see and hear withthe eyes and the ears, but through the eyes and the ears. By that he means that two men can both hear or see the same thing, but they perceive it different from each other. For example if two persons looking at an expensive piece of art: one of them, an art collector, thinks the painting is beautiful while the other person, who is not interested in art, thinks it looks like it was painted by a 5-year-old. Just because their eyes see the same painting doesn’t mean they perceive it the same way. Our eyes are only tools we need to be able to see things, and our minds perceive what we see. We see throughthe eyes, and not with them.

There are some resemblance between Socrates argument and modern empiricism. Empiricism is a theory where knowledge is based only, or primarily, on experiences. Socrates argues that what is true for one person may not be true for another. It is hard for me to explain, let’s take an example. Two friends are eating the same food; one of them thinks the food is really spicy. For him it is true that the food is spicy, it is proven to him by his experience when he tasted the food. The other person doesn’t think the food is spicy at all. For her it is true that the food is NOT spicy, proven by her own experiences. Everything that is true is based on experiences, just like empiricism, but it doesn't mean it is true for everybody.
Also, Socrates proves to Theaetetus what knowledge is not by taking examples from Theaetetus own experiences, similar as empiricism.