Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 15:32:38 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199801122032.PAA13584@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: Logical Language Group Sender: Lojban list From: Logical Language Group Subject: Re: knowledge and belief X-To: cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG X-cc: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan X-UIDL: 0af95463f6f35455763174116d89b0c9 Status: U X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 1482 X-From-Space-Date: Mon Jan 12 16:06:26 1998 X-From-Space-Address: - John Cowan: >> There seems to be some confusion as to what is an >> epistemology. In some examples, it seems to be taken >> as the way by which something gets to be known. > >That is the standard meaning. > >> In other cases it is the theory or lore within which >> something is a fact. For example: > >In those cases (djuno, jetnu, etc.) it should really be >called a "metaphysics". (BTW, what is the plural of >"metaphysics"?) I used metaphysics as an alternate to epistemology for jetnu (which was a shorter definition and had more room for alternate wordings). However, metaphysics is a much vaguer and more nebulous term, not merely restricted to ways of knowing. Indeed, pc once told me (I think) that metaphysics as a field was divided into 3 subareas of which epistemology is only one. The other two areas (ontlogy and cosmology) have little to do with knowledge. Thus "a metaphysics" could be too broad and have nothing to do with knowledge, whereas "an epistemology" is inherently at least part of "a metaphysics". lojbab ---- lojbab lojbab@access.digex.net Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273 Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: ftp.access.digex.net /pub/access/lojbab or see Lojban WWW Server: href="http://xiron.pc.helsinki.fi/lojban/" Order _The Complete Lojban Language_ - see our Web pages or ask me.