# The Christian values on epistemology

## What is knowledge?

Since materialism can't be true, **behaviorism** and its subsets are false (with only a few exceptions).

- The implication that God can grant divine revelation means **psychological behaviorism** has some grains of truth.
- **Methodological behaviorism** has truths contained within it, specifically in how we can't [control](power-types.md) what others think and only what they do.
  - Further, there is a *soft* proven reality about **post-Skinnerism** (e.g., the domains of [economics](money-economics.md) and [political science](politics-systems.md)).

**Rationalism** is a logical consequence of believing a human soul exists, which also means **empiricism** (with **associationism** and **verificationism**) are effectively wrong.

- As a side effect, **positivism** can't be correct either.
- Further, **innatism** is necessary to believe God instills morality into us from the beginning ([Romans 1:20](https://biblehub.com/romans/1-20.htm)).

**Presuppositionalism** is necessary to believe God interacts with us through revelation and not simply logic.

Many domains of understanding can work well without any conflict:

- **Conventionalism** can exist, but only to describe *some* human universals.
- **Dialetheism** is entirely possible, since our understanding of the truth may be in error.
- **Ethnocentrism** is at least partly true (including **methodological relativism** and **polylogism**), but there must be a carve-out for divine revelation and the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Both **internalism** and **externalism** are connected to Christian doctrine:
  - There is Scripture that warns against associating with the wrong types of people (i.e., externalism).
  - We are held individually and uncompromisingly responsible for our innermost desires and beliefs, not just our actions (i.e., internalism).
- **Linguistic determinism**, as well as **descriptivism**, can have a Christian basis.
  - However, **linguistic relativism** can't be complete, since that would make the Bible partly irrelevant.
- **Logical atomism** can help us to [understand the primitives](https://trendless.tech/primitives/) that hold up what we believe.
- **Phenomenalism** gives some relativistic view on how we perceive, which can work up to a point.

Both **externism** and **solipsism** (as well as **transcendental idealism** and **Hegelianism**) are possible, but difficult because we're not supposed to lean on our own understanding ([Proverbs 3:5](https://biblehub.com/proverbs/3-5.htm)).

### The verdict on the essence of knowledge

True

- Rationalism
- Innatism
- Presuppositionalism

Possible (and useful)

- Conventionalism (as long as we don't go all the way with it)
- Dialetheism (since ideas can be complicated)
- Externalism (because our environment defines our thoughts)
- Internalism (because we are morally responsible for our thoughts)
- Logical atomism

Possible (somewhat)

- Ethnocentrism (except for what God can do)
  - Methodological relativism
  - Polylogism
- Linguistic determinism (but not completely)
  - Descriptivism
- Phenomenalism (as long as there is absolute behind it)

Possible (but difficult)

- Behaviorism (on a few points)
  - Psychological behaviorism (since God can grant divine revelation)
  - Methodological behaviorism (since we can't control others' thoughts)
  - Post-Skinnerism (since people are *kindasorta* predictable in large groups)
- Externism
- Solipsism
  - Transcendental idealism
  - Hegelianism

False

- Behaviorism (almost entirely)
- Empiricism
- Linguistic relativism (at least in its entirety)
- Positivism

## How much can we know?

Christian worldviews have a wide scope to describe our understanding:

- Both **critical realism** and **representationalism** works fine because they get into details about *how* we understand more than whether understanding is *possible*.
- **Disjunctivism** works, simply because we obviously can perceive things wrongly.
- **Infinitism** can work, but only if we recurse or loop the reasons on themselves (since God's thoughts create an original reason).
- **Intuitionism** and **logicism** work well (as well as the opposite in **preintuitionism**), since Christian doctrine doesn't concern itself much about the details of [math](math.md).
- **Operationalism** works because our observations can create values.
- Both **relationalism** and **substantivalism** go *far* deeper into the weeds about how [language](language.md) and [understanding](understanding.md) work than anything *remotely* in Christian doctrine.

**Deconstructionism** (along with **existentialism**, **interpretivism**, and **perspectivism**) *can* be true, but must stop with *most* of our understanding.

- The trouble with **Christian existentialism** and **Christian existential humanism**, though, is that it implies the universe is conceived of endless deceptions and uncertainties, which goes against the idea that the universe has inherent design characteristics formed for mankind to have a relationship with God.

**Fallibilism** presumes our minds are stable enough that we can keep things logically consistent and well-maintained.

**Reliablism** *can* work, but is difficult because knowledge could just as easily come through the soul's innate grasp of a thing, *without* a reliable method (e.g., God giving direct understanding).

The existence of **tautology** must necessarily exist for the Bible to exist, whether in spirit or in implementation.

### The verdict on how much we can know

True

- Tautology

Possible (or partial)

- Critical realism
- Disjunctivism
- Infinitism (if the reasons recurse)
- Intuitionism
  - Logicism
- Operationalism
- Preintuitionism
- Relationalism
- Representationalism
- Substantivalism

Possible (but difficult)

- Deconstructionism (as long as it's our understanding isn't *completely* unknowable)
  - Existentialism
    - Christian existentialism
    - Christian existential humanism
  - Interpretivism
  - Perspectivism
- Fallibilism
- Reliablism