Research Paper on:
Self Knowledge and Externalism

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
methods some philosophers use to pose the externalist threat to self knowledge, as well as responses to them which claim that self-knowledge and externalism are compatible, the student will gain  a significantly better understanding of how the latter is more convincing. "Then let us again examine whether that is a sound statement, or do we let it pass, and  if one of us, or someone else, merely says that something is so, do we accept that it is so? Or should we examine what the speaker means?" (Socrates  14). The ontological and epistemological underpinnings of the Heideggerean Hermeneutic Phenomenological research approach address the aspects of knowledge and interpretation as they directly  relate to the concepts of existence and meaning. Considered to be an artful form of understanding, hermeneutics was "derived from the Greek verb, hermeneueuein, to interpret, and from the  noun, hermeneia, or interpretation" (Wiehl PG). Characteristic of humanitys constant quest for the concept of meaning, the journey of understanding has come to represent myriad things to myriad people,  ultimately rendering any universal explanation virtually impossible. The problem with meaning as it relates to externalism and self-knowledge is attempting to successfully pinpoint a single yet comprehensive connotation to  its concept; however, this cannot be achieved as long as any two individuals harbor decidedly different interpretations. Hermeneutics, which pertains to the aspect of uncovering hidden meanings, is categorized  as a method of textual analysis that focuses upon the sociocultural and historic influences on inquiry focused upon the interpretation of life, language and humanitys place within it all.  "Heidegger emphasized the ontology of Being as opposed to the epistemologic question of knowing. A person, a Being-in-the-World, cannot be separated from the world. Heideggers philosophy offered an