What are the differences between epistemology and gnoseology?

Some keys to distinguish between epistemology and gnoseology.

Since the concepts of epistemology and gnoseology are focused on the study of knowledge, both terms are often confused and used as synonyms.

However, the nuances offered by each are important, and that is why here we are going to look at the differences between epistemology and gnoseology. we are going to look at the differences between epistemology and gnoseologyand go into more detail with the definitions of both terms.

Differences between epistemology and gnoseology.

Before going into more detail about each of the differences between these two terms, it is necessary to talk in more depth about what is meant by the word epistemology and what is meant by the word gnoseology.

Epistemology: what is it and what are its origins?

Epistemology, from the Greek 'episteme', 'knowledge' and 'logos', 'study', is a branch of philosophy that deals with the philosophical problems surrounding the theory of knowledge, fundamentally scientific knowledge. That is, epistemology is concerned with defining knowledge and related concepts, the sources, criteria and types of possible knowledge, as well as the degree to which each is true. This discipline understands knowledge as a relationship between the person and the object of study.

The origins of this discipline can be traced back to Ancient Greece by philosophers as important for the history of Western thought as Aristotle, Parmenides and Plato. Although its origins are very ancient, epistemology did not develop as a science until the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Renaissance took place.

Each philosopher sees in a different way the relationship in which people relate to the knowledge we want to acquire. For Plato, true knowledge, which is related to scientific knowledge, was that which was attained by means of reason.. He considered that this was the only way to know the true essence of things, the ideas that gave them form.

The objects of the sensible world, which arose from ideas, could only provide human beings with an opinion or doxa, but never with true knowledge, since physical objects can change and, therefore, we cannot perceive them as anything more than an appearance.

The physical world, seen in Plato's eyes, was nothing more than a copy of the world of ideas, a metaphysical world in which, if we could get there, we could have a true knowledge of the essence of things. The body, which is material, belongs to the physical world, while the soul, which is trapped in the body, belongs to the world of ideas and, when we die, it will return to the world from which it came. This is what is known as Platonic realism.

However, his disciple, Aristotle, true knowledge is not to be found in a distant world that we can only reach once we are dead. For this philosopher, knowledge is born directly from sensible experience, through what our senses grasp. It is through experience that we are able to grasp the essence of things.. This, which differs radically from Plato's thought, is called empiricism.

With these examples, and without expounding all the Western philosophy to date, the idea behind the word 'epistemology' becomes understandable. The discipline that tries to find out how the human being obtains knowledge of the world in which he lives, either through the physical world or through illumination coming from a non-perceivable world.

Gnoseology: what exactly is it?

Gnoseology, from 'gnosis', 'knowledge, faculty of knowing' and 'logos', 'study', is the discipline that studies the nature, origin and limits of knowledge, not knowledge itself. That is, this discipline does not study what is physics, mathematics or biology, but knowledge in general and what are its limits and foundations. Therefore, it can be understood as a theory of knowledge, in general terms, without it necessarily being scientific.

This discipline also has its roots in Ancient Greece and, in fact, it is considered that the emergence of the first currents of Western philosophy were born at the same time as this concept. Most philosophers have contributed to the development of this branch of philosophy.found in works such as De Anima of Aristotle or in his book IV on metaphysics.

Moving forward in history, in the seventeenth century, empiricists such as John Locke, David Hume and George Berkeley defend the role of experience when it comes to knowing, arguing that any kind of knowledge comes from sensible experience, from the data of the senses. The growth of the individual, whatever he knows, takes place through experience, his first interactions while he is still an infant turn out to be the source of all knowledge.on which the rest of the knowledge he acquires will be based.

René Descartes, on the other hand, considers that clear and evident knowledge can be obtained through doubt, that is, through reasoning. By thinking about the reality that surrounds us, we can tie up ends and, at the same time, be closer to true knowledge. This philosopher, together with Spinoza and Leibniz, affirmed that reality was independent of experience and that there were innate ideas in the human mind, that we were not a tabula rasa.

As a combination of both visions, Immanuel Kant proposes in his Critique of Pure Reason his concept of transcendental idealism. In it he states that the subject is not passive in the act of knowing, but active, knowing the world and constructing its own reality.. The limit of knowledge is experience. However, it is only possible to have phenomenal knowledge of reality, that is, of the form in which the object presents itself to the subject and the subject perceives it. The thing itself, its real essence, is not within our reach.

How can we distinguish between the two?

Having seen the definitions of epistemology and gnoseology and their origins, both historical and etymological, it becomes clear why they are so easily confused. They are, in essence, the study of knowledge and, on top of that, these words have an etymological origin that, basically, starts from the same idea: 'gnosos' and 'episteme' mean knowledge, so they can be translated as "the study of knowledge".

However, they do differ. Very subtly, but they do. Although the vast majority of philosophers who have dealt with epistemology in their philosophy have also dealt with gnoseology, and some of them have used the two terms interchangeably, the two concepts are different.

The main distinction between epistemology and gnoseology, although it may seem somewhat arbitrary, is the type of knowledge they address.. On the one hand, epistemology is dedicated to more ethological or psychological knowledge, more oriented towards the idea of intelligence and directly related to the sciences, whatever they may be.

Epistemology refers to knowledge as that which occurs between a subject with the capacity to learn and think and the object of study. Gnoseology, on the other hand, deals with the theory of knowledge in general, whatever this knowledge may be, from something as simple as everyday experience to something more complex.

To put it a little finer and return to the subject of the etymological origin, it must be said that there is a significant difference in the origin of gnoseology. a significant difference in the origin of the two words, but it is so subtle that it tends to be more complex.but it is so subtle that it tends to be misleading. Episteme' refers more to a system of knowledge, i.e., what is modernly understood as a discipline or science. In contrast, 'gnosis' refers more to individual knowledge, what a person has been learning throughout life, regardless of whether it is something complex or not so complex.

Bibliographical references:

• Bunge, M. (1989). La ciencia: su método y su filosofía. Ediciones Siglo Veinte: Buenos Aires. Pp. 9 - 34.
• Rodríguez, B. (2006). Metodología jurídica. Chapter II. Theory of knowledge and knowledge of law. Pp. 50 - 65.