TO KNOW OR TO THINK—THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE LIGHT OF THE STUDIES OF MIECZYSŁAW A. KRĄPIEC
Journal Title: Studia Gilsoniana - Year 2014, Vol 3, Issue
Abstract
The article concentrates on the specificity of philosophical cognition. Referring to Mieczysław A. Krąpiec’s study, the author proves that the process of thinking is not to be necessarily identified with the process of cognition, as in fact the former is merely a secondary phase of the latter. When identified with thinking, the philosophical cognition would undermine the very sense of cognition, which means the understanding of reality. When based on thinking alone, philosophy does not grasp real things, but operates with abstracts of being and being’s representations (concepts). As for the correctness of philosophical thinking the laws of logic, with ensuring non-contradictory operations, are sufficient enough. However, any knowledge that aspires to be philosophical has to start from really existing beings. In the next phases of cognition, such beings are grasped more and more particularly and precisely—starting from their transcendental properties and principles, then their structure and categorial properties, and finally their individual characteristics and actions. The very first act of cognition is directed to real beings, which are immediately grasped in respect of their existence and real essence. The second act of cognition deals with signs. The precedence of being in human cognition makes the philosophy charged not with a task of thinking about the world, but with the task of knowing and understanding it within possible and verifiable limits. Therefore, according to Krapiec, the very first philosophical discipline is metaphysics, which has real beings as its object. Thus, philosophical cognition should preserve its objective character, as this is the only way to guarantee its realism.
Authors and Affiliations
Tomasz Duma
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP253618
- DOI -
- Views 201
- Downloads 0
E-BOOK: Studia Gilsoniana 7, no. 4 (2018)
Andrzej Maryniarczyk, S.D.B.: The Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy: An Introduction ● Wojciech Chudy: Mieczysław Albert Krąpiec in The Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy ● Marek Czachorowski: Abortion in The Univer...
Greek and Roman Roots of European Civilisation
European countries share certain features, roots and, to a large extent, history. In the present article attention is paid to the Greek and Roman influence on European civilisation, or “Western Civilisation.” To this day...
TRANSFORMED IN CHRIST, THE MASTER OF UNCOMMON SENSE
Both definitive and enigmatic, the figure of Christ, the Master-Teacher emerges from the pages of the Gospel. What does he reveal? How does he reveal it? In an age that markets transformation as a commodity, what promise...
E-BOOK: Studia Gilsoniana 7, no. 2 (2018)
Steven Barmore: To See a City Come into Being in Speech: Genus and Analogy in Plato’s Republic ● Maria Joanna Gondek: A Teleological Interpretation of the Applicability of Rhetoric in the Peripatetic Tradition ● Rev. Wil...
Philosophical Considerations for Fruitful Dialogue between Christians and Muslims
The author attempts to go beyond the study of the history of Islamic philosophy to the larger theme of religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He explores first some of the conditions that are required for any...