Problem of the criterion

The problem of the criterion is an issue in epistemology about the starting point of knowledge. It is considered a separate but more fundamental issue than the regressA series of statements in which a logical procedure is continually reapplied to its own result without approaching a useful conclusion (e.g. defining something in terms of itself). Oxford Languages. argument found in discussions on proving that some knowledge is true.

History

Classical antiquity

In Western philosophy, the earliest surviving document of the problem of the criterion was written by Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus (b. 2nd century AD). In the Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus showed that there had been no criterion of truth, contrary to the position of dogmatists, such as the Stoics well-known for their doctrine of katalepsis.Sextus Empiricus Outlines of Pyrrhonism Book II Chapters 4–9.

Modern period

American philosopher Roderick Chisholm detailed the problem of the criterion with two sets of questions in the Theory of Knowledge: 

 What do we know? or What is the extent of our knowledge?
 How do we know? or What is the criterion for deciding whether we have knowledge in any particular case?

Related pages

 Logic
 Philosophy of mind
 Principia Mathematica
 Ancient Greek philosophy

References

Category:Logic
Category:Science
Category:Philosophy
Category:Epistemology