First off, this is the actual defination of Epistomology from dictionary.com.
e·pis·te·mol·o·gy n. The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity.
Philosophy, not science.
The bad premises I was talking about were:
1. That Science and the Scientific method are the same thing. They are, in reality two different things. If they were the same thing we would be able to use them interchangibly.
The distinction is irrelevant for this discussion. A science uses the scientific method, so we can tell if something is a science by seeing if it uses the scientific method. You're nitpicking.
2. The one that I already mentioned, that the scientific method can be applied to the source from which it is derived, a point which you completely ignored.
Again, completely irrelevant. If something does not use the scientific method, it is not a science. Period.
3. That epistomology must make predictions about knowledge to be a science. This is an extension of your fallacy that the scientific method and science are the same thing.
See above.
4. That it is POSSIBLE to make predictions about knowledge and then test these predictions. Knowledge is intagible, you can't test it like you can physical variables.
Then you can't study it scientifically. It's a purely philosophical endeavor.
5. That a science must make predictions to be a science. Again this is confusing science and the scienfic method. Astronomy is a hard science but it is nothing more then the gathering of information, any predictions derived from this information are the domain of physics, not astronomy.
Take an astronomy class. Astronomy makes plenty of predictions with respect to luminosity and apparent brightness. It's not simply information gathering. Astronomy is a branch of physics. Of course that's where its predictions come from.
Again, your confusing science and the scientific method.
A science must, by definition, use the scientific method. The scientific method necessitates predictions. Get a fucking clue.
I never claimed that rationality and logic were not important aspects of a science.
Not what I'm talking about. Part of science's success has been its applicability through engineering. That success would not be possible without the capacity for making predictions. Where are all the epistimological engineers?
Last time I checked a number line dosen't prove the validity of subtraction or addition. Go back to Pre-school.
Try again, genius. The number line is the basis for
all math. The number line is the reason 2 + 2 = 4. Start at point 1, go a distance away from that point equal to the distance between 1 and the origin, and you're at the point called 2. This is not a difficult concept.
Let's cut the bullshit out, shall we? What is
your definition of a science that includes such abstract areas as "knowing knowledge" while excluding religion? You've spent plenty of time attacking mine and spouting dictionary definitions, but you haven't given a solid definition of your own.