What is knowledge?- 3.1.1 (copy)

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epistemology

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35 Terms

1

epistemology

study of knowledge

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2

acquaintance knowledge

knowing of someone, a place etc (I know Ruby)

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3

ability knowledge

knowing how to do something (I know how to ride a bike)

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4

propositional knowledge

knowing that some claim is true or false (Ellie’s top is orange)

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5

Zabzebski on nature of propositional knowledge

treat knowledge as if it has real essence- we should adopt the aim of providing real definition of knowledge until we can show we have failed to find one- trying and failing to succeed

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6

what technique does Zagzebski use

conceptual analysis to find necessary conditions for a true example for the concept to occur

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7

Zagzebski pitfalls of knowledge

Circular, obscure, negative, Ad hoc

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8

2 types of ways in which knowledge can be defined

  1. Locke’s ‘real essence’- some objects have underlying cause that makes it the way it is such as water as it is H20- if an object has a real essence, oit can have a real definition

  2. ‘weeds’ example- there is no underlying cause that makes weeds weeds- we can still give a definition for the term yet it will not be a real definition as weeds do not have ‘real essence’

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9

Plato’s example of difference between having true belief and knowledge

Imagine travelling to Larissa with a guide who knows the way- he would be good but if you had a guide that guessed the way he too would be good. In both cases you end up at the right town so why should we prefer knowledge over true belief?- comes up with the JTB

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10

Propositional knowledge is defined as Justified True Belief, a person, S, knows that p if and only if:

  1. S is justified in believing P

  2. p is true

  3. S believes that p

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11

Why does Plato state we prefer knowledge over true belief?

It is backed up by reason/evidence

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12

The conditions of the JTB are individually …… and jointly…..

individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for knowledge

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13

necessary condition

something you need in order to have the thing in question

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14

example of necessary condition

water is a necessary condition of rain- you cannot have rain without water but water alone is not enough to guarantee rain

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15

sufficient condition

sufficient conditions when met mean you will always have the thing in question

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16

sufficient condition example

being an aunt is a sufficient condition for having relatives- ‘Aunthood’ guarantees relatives yet you can still have relatives without being an aunt

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17

Give an example of a condition that is both necessary and jointly sufficient

bachelor example- having never been married and being a man are the necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for being a bachelor

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18

summary of the belief condition (issues with the tripartite view)

the belief condition says that a necessary condition for your knowing that p is that you believe p- it would be incoherent to say: ‘I know that it is raining but I don’t believe it’

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19

how would some argue that we can have knowledge without belief

some equate knowledge with successful action- you may answer a quiz question hesitantly (having been taught it correctly but not remembering being taught it)- it could be argued that you knew the answer yet you didn’t believe it

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20

reply to quiz example- belief is not a necessary condition of knowledge (2)

  1. You don’t know the answer

  2. You have unconscious belief that amounts to knowledge

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21

Explain idea that belief and knowledge are different mental states

Plato later argues in ‘The Republic’ that knowledge and belief are separate- knowledge is infallible (100% sure) and belief is fallible so they must be fundamentally different, knowledge goes beyond

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22

phrase that supports idea that knowledge and belief are different mental states

“I don’t just believe that I will win, I know I will”

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23

Zagzebski reply to Plato’s distinction of knowledge and belief

Zagzebski notes that everyone disagrees with Plato’s distinction as the difference is because: knowledge is always true and justified belief, yet belief in general can be true or false, justified or unjustified

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24

the truth condition summary

can you have knowledge without truth- all ideas point to truth being necessary to knowledge

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25

Raquel the cavewoman example:

Raquel the cavewoman believes the world is flat based on evidence available at the time- is it possible she knew the Earth was flat- 2 ways of answering correspondence theory vs coherence theory

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26

correspondence theory of truth

truth consists of correspondence between a claim and relevant fact- in this theory the claim- the Earth is flat- does not correspond to fact and therefore Raquel’s justified belief IS NOT TRUE

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27

coherence theory of truth

belief is true if it is one of the web of beliefs held by a society to be true web of beliefs is internally coherent so in Raquel’s day she did know the world was flat and SHE DID HAVE JUSTIFIED TRUE BELIEF

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28

What do both the correspondence and coherence theory of truth have in common?

both theories still agree with truth being one of the necessary conditions of knowledge

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29

the justification condition summary

can we have knowledge without justification ?- justification IS NOT always necessary

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30

justification dice example

a friend guesses that a dice will land on a 6 and it does- we are reluctant to say she knows this as true belief alone is not enough- a valid justification is needed e.g. it was a loaded dice

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31

reliabilism

linking knowledge with the reliability of the process that led to it

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32

Opposition to justification being a necessary condition

conscious ‘justification’ may not be necessary instead, we should only grant the status of knowledge to those beliefs that we have formed by a reliable cognitive process

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33

example of a case of true belief with no rational justification

John has a rare gift to be able to tell you which day any date in the future will be, he is unable to say how he does it but is very accurate- true belief and reliable so justification may not always be necessary

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34

What do the Gettier examples demonstrate

JTB conditions are not jointly sufficient

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35

Name Gettier’s 2 examples

  1. Smith and Jones

  2. Brown in Barcelona

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