Knowledge from the Logic of Justification to the Logic of Science in the Classical Era

Abstract

This research sheds light on the problematic of knowledge in the Classical Era, spanning from the end of the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century—a period that emphasized the role of the human in the process of constructing knowledge. It shifted the focus of philosophical inquiry from religious-theological issues, which limited the human’s role to passively receiving knowledge, to humans becoming active producers of that knowledge. In this study, we aim to uncover the mechanism of the transition of knowledge from a philosophical justificatory logic based on a unidirectional approach to a systematic scientific logic grounded in a clear scientific methodology and foundations. This is explored through three main axes that Classical knowledge relied upon:

• The Role of the Subject in Knowledge
• The Centrality of Science
• The Centrality of the Object

In the conclusion of the research, we review Edgar Morin’s critique of this knowledge in its Classical stage, aiming to highlight the epistemological context of this period, the cognitive leaps that occurred within it, and the most significant criticisms that can be directed toward it.