(a) experience - Examples of these are maxims, the school of hard knocks, and the Book of Proverbs. We learn by experience.

(b) tradition - These are known by everyone of the given culture. They are things that have always been. The United States once had traditional values, but society has changed that so that many people have become disoriented and unhappy.

(c) authority - Examples are laws, experts, the Bible, and customs.

(d) deductive reasoning - With this, one moves from general, overall ideas to a specific conclusion. Develop a theory and then say that this is what should happen. Based on syllogisms (truth tables) where one has a major premise (all mammals produce milk), a minor premise (a cow produces milk), and a conclusion (a cow is a mammal).

(e) inductive reasoning - With this, one proceeds from specific instances to a general theory (i.e., Francis Bacon). Always seeing birds fly south for the winter implies that birds always fly south for the winter. Inductive reasoning is important because it leads to theory, and theories summarize knowledge, provide provisional explanation for experiences, and provide a testable hypothesis.

(f) the scientific approach - The steps to this are: (1) state problem, (2) formulate a hypothesis (educated guess), (3) state proposed implications (what one can expect if true), (4) state predicted results, (5) collect data and present observed results, and (6) make conclusions about the hypothesis.

(a) experience - limitations are: (1) no two people have the same experiences and (2) experience is not always the best teacher (a hot iron is not the best way to learn about a hot iron).

(b) tradition - limitations are: (1) can lead to a dogmatic approach to life (can take away choices) and (2) can squelch better alternatives (always been done that way before).

(c) authority - limitations are: (1) authorities, with the exception of the Bible, are not always infallible and (2) authorities can sometimes contradict.

(d) deductive reasoning - limitations are: (1) conclusion relies on accurate premises and (2) organizes what is known and points out new relationships but does not produce new truths.

(e) inductive reasoning - limitations are: (1) generalizations can be very limited, and this will limit the scope of the theory and (2) not all things are observable (love and justice).

(f) the scientific approach - limitations are: (1) complexity of subject matter (humans are complex), (2) difficulties in observations (hard to observe a family in their environment without them behaving differently), (3) difficult to replicate results (rats tend to all be alike but not so with humans. Post Traumatic Disorder can only be studied with current candidates. One cannot just start another war.), (4) interaction with observed subjects can cause a loss of objectivity, (5) difficult to control (statistically) human subjects, (6) problem in measurements (how to measure motivation, love, and justice), and (7) problems that cannot be answered (research cannot say that God answers prayers or that capital punishment is right or wrong).

				Tom of Bethany