Historian: Because medieval epistemology (theory of knowledge) is a complex subject, intellectual historians have, u...

jingjingxiao11111@gmail.com on July 1, 2021

I am not an instructor but I got E due to the following logic. I hope it helps you.

It is important to keep in mind that the definition of medieval epistemology is “the epistemological beliefs of the medieval epistemologists.” In plain terms, whatever epistemological beliefs that medieval epistemologists hold constitute medieval epistemology. That is why E weakens the argument. E states that “There is much debate as to which medieval thinkers, if any, were epistemologists.” If we are not even sure who are the true medieval epistemologists, how could we take their epistemological belief as true medieval epistemology since there is a possibility that they are not even qualified to give a relevant epistemological belief (if they are not medieval epistemologists, these medieval thinkers cannot give relevant epistemological belief for the definition of medieval epistemology)? Thus E is our answer.


B states that “The epistemological beliefs of medieval epistemologists depended upon their beliefs about nonepistemological matters.” This has no bearing on the argument because we are trying to find an answer that casts doubt on the definition of medieval epistemology. The beliefs that medieval epistemologists hold about nonepistemological matters have no bearing on the definition of medieval epistemology since medieval epistemology is defined as whatever epistemological beliefs that medieval epistemologists possess, not what they believe about nonepistemological matters.

I hope that it helps. Please feel free to correct me. Thank you.

FS101 on July 3, 2021

Thank you!