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Epoch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Epoch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Epoch (, epokh "suspension"[1]) is an ancient Greek term which, in its philosophical usage, describes the theoretical moment where all judgments about the existence of the external world, and consequently all action in the world, is suspended. One's own consciousness is subject to immanent critique so that when such belief is recovered, it will have a firmer grounding in consciousness. This concept was developed by the Greek skeptics and plays an implicit role in skeptical thought, as in Ren Descartes' epistemic principle of methodic doubt. The term was popularized in philosophy by Edmund Husserl. Husserl elaborates the notion of 'phenomenological epoch' or 'bracketing' in Ideas I. Through the systematic procedure of 'phenomenological reduction', one is thought to be able to suspend judgment regarding the general or naive philosophical belief in the existence of the external world, and thus examine phenomena as they are originally given to consciousness.[2]

Contents
1 Epoch and skepticism 2 Epoch and phenomenology 3 See also 4 Notes and references

Epoch and skepticism


Epoch played an important role in Pyrrhonism, the skeptical philosophy named after Pyrrho. The Skeptics used to refer to themselves as zetetikoi ("searchers"). They do not dogmatically assert the inability to know anything: the word skepsis means "inquiry, examination." [3] According to them, only by refusing either to affirm or to deny the truth of what we cannot know, can we achieve ataraxia.[4] Without actually claiming that we do not know anything, Pyrrhonism argues that the preferred attitude to be adopted is epoch, i.e., the suspension of judgment or the withholding of assent.[5] It would be a contradiction to boldly assert that nothing can be known since that very proposition itself would then be elevated to the status of something which is known. None of this entails that we have no rationale to choose one kind of action over another; rather, one kind of life or one kind of action cannot be definitively said to be the 'correct' way or action. Instead of a life of inaction, the Skeptic insists that one normally ought to live according to customs, laws, and traditions.

Epoch and phenomenology


Main article: Bracketing (phenomenology)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoch

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10/4/13

Epoch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In phenomenological research epoch is described as a process involved in blocking biases and assumptions in order to explain a phenomenon in terms of its own inherent system of meaning. One actual technique is known as bracketing. This involves systematic steps to "set aside" various assumptions and beliefs about a phenomenon in order to examine how the phenomenon presents itself in the world of the participant.[6]

See also
Agrippa's trilemma Sextus Empiricus

Notes and references


1. ^ (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text? doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De%29poxh%2F) in Liddell and Scott's GreekEnglish Lexicon. 2. ^ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "The Phenomenological Reduction" (http://www.iep.utm.edu/phenred/#SSSH5a.i.1). 3. ^ TROWBRIDGE, John. Skepticism and Pluralism - ways of living a life of awareness as recommended by the 'Zhuangzi' (http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/11794/uhm_phd_4497_r.pdf;jsessionid=F212A3DBF 278C81663F48E55629F853C?sequence=2) . University of Hawai'i. August, 2004, p. 74. 4. ^ Free On-line Dictionary of Philosophy: "epoch". (http://www.swif.uniba.it/lei/foldop/foldoc.cgi?epoch%E9) 5. ^ Encyclopdia Britannica Online "Pyrrhonism." (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/485099/Pyrrhonism) Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2011. 28 Nov. 2011. 6. ^ Christensen, T.M., Brumfield, K.A. (2010). Phenomenological designs: The philosophy of phenomenological research. In C.J Sheperis, J.S Young, & M.H. Daniels (Eds.), Counseling research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

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