Epistemology

Rationalism

Knowledge is primarily acquired through reason and intellectual intuition.

Empiricism

Knowledge is primarily acquired through sensory experience.

Epistemology

 The study or science of knowledge.

Procedural Knowledge

Knowing how to ride a bicycle, knowing how to drive from one city to another.

Acquaintance Knowledge

Knowing a person (e.g., the department chairperson), knowing a place (e.g., Philadelphia).

Propositional Knowledge

Knowledge expressed by declarative sentences that describe facts or states of affairs.

Priori Knowledge

 Knowledge independent of experience, known through reason alone.

Posteriori Knowledge

Knowledge dependent on sensory experience.

Social Epistemology

The study of how groups, institutions, or collective bodies acquire knowledge.

Knowledge is Mental

Knowledge exists in the mind and cannot be attributed to unthinking things.

Knowledge as a Kind of Belief

To have knowledge about something, one must have beliefs about it.

Occurrent Beliefs

Beliefs that an individual is actively thinking about at a given moment.

Non-Occurrent (Background) Beliefs

Beliefs that are held in the background and not actively considered at a specific time.

Objective Truth

The concept assumes that there is an objective reality that beliefs can match or fail to match.

Factive Knowledge

Knowledge in the factive sense requires that there be facts to know. Without facts, there can be no knowledge.

Justified Belief

A belief is justified if it is based on evidence and reasoning.

Unjustified True Beliefs

Beliefs can be true but unjustified.

Justified False Beliefs

Beliefs can be justified but false.

Defeater

is a proposition that, if known or believed, would undermine or invalidate the justification for a belief.

Explicit Defeater

A belief or knowledge of a false proposition that would directly contradict the justification.

Implicit Defeater

A proposition that is implicitly assumed in the reasoning process and, if false, undermines the justification.

No-Defeaters Condition

Have no defeaters—there must not be any false propositions, that if known or believed, would undermine the justification for the belief.

Causal accounts of knowledge

emerge as an alternative to the traditional Justified True Belief (JTB) account in response to the Gettier problem, which reveals that the JTB criteria can be met without constituting true knowledge due to the involvement of luck.

Fallibilism

is the notion that a belief can be justified yet false.

Internalist Approach

This perspective focuses on the mental states and processes of the believer.

Externalist Approach

This perspective emphasizes the relationship between the belief and the external world.

Internalism

Provides a clear criterion for the believer to assess justification.

Externalism

Avoids the regress problem by grounding justification in reliable processes.

Basic Beliefs

Beliefs that initiate a chain of justification and do not derive their justification from other beliefs.

Non-Basic Beliefs

Beliefs that derive their justification from other beliefs.

Self-Justified Beliefs

Beliefs that justify themselves inherently without reliance on other beliefs.

Sources of Beliefs

Sense experience, reason, testimony, memory, etc.

Cognitive Processes

The specific processes (e.g., vision, expert testimony) that lead to the formation of beliefs.

Intuition

is believed to provide direct access to a priori knowledge without needing empirical evidence.

Past Justification

We can remember something known in the past even if we forget the original justification for that knowledge.

Knowledge Transmission

Knowledge can be passed from one person to another through testimony.

Skepticism

is the view that we do not, or cannot, have knowledge, or that we know much less than we think we do.

Local Skepticism

 Skepticism concerning specific areas such as mathematics, morality, or the external world.

Global Skepticism

The belief that we cannot know anything at all.

Truth Skepticism

The view that none of our beliefs are true.

Justification Skepticism

The view that none of our beliefs are justified (more common than truth skepticism).

False Beliefs

If some perceptions are false, then some of our beliefs based on these perceptions are also false.

Inductive Reasoning

We often use past experiences to make generalizations about the future (e.g., the sun has risen every day, so it will rise tomorrow).

Causation

We believe that one event causes another based on our experiences (e.g., striking a match causes it to light).

Language

is essential for expressing and communicating knowledge.

Meaning

The significance or interpretation of words and sentences.

Referential Theory

Words refer to objects or concepts in the world.

Use Theory

Meaning is derived from how words are used in practice (Ludwig Wittgenstein).

Truth-Conditional Semantics

The meaning of a sentence is given by the conditions under which it is true.

Nyaya School

Emphasizes logical analysis, debate, and the four means of acquiring knowledge: perception, inference, comparison, and testimony.

Buddhist Epistemology

Focuses on perception and inference, with a critical examination of the self and the nature of reality. Key figures include Dignaga and Dharmakirti.

Mimamsa and Vedanta

Explore the role of Vedic texts and direct experience in understanding reality.

Illusion

Perceptual errors that challenge the reliability of sensory knowledge. For example, a stick appears bent when partially submerged in water.

Mysticism

Claims knowledge through direct, often ineffable, spiritual or transcendental experiences.

Subjectivism

The view that knowledge is influenced by individual perspectives and experiences. Truth and justification are seen as relative to the subject.

Objectivism

The view that knowledge and truth exist independently of individual beliefs or perceptions. There are objective standards for justification and truth.

Causal theory of knowledge

suggests that beliefs are justified when they are caused by the relevant facts or states of affairs in the right way.

Idealism

posits that reality is fundamentally mental or immaterial.

Phenomenalism

claims that physical objects do not exist independently of our sensory experiences.

Perspectivism

 suggests that all knowledge is from a particular perspective and that there are no objective truths.

Foundationalism

Beliefs are justified based on basic, self-evident truths or foundational beliefs that do not require further justification.

Coherentism

Beliefs are justified by their coherence with other beliefs in a mutually supportive system. There are no foundational beliefs, but rather a web of interconnected beliefs.

Reliabilism

Beliefs are justified if they are produced by reliable cognitive processes or methods that generally lead to true beliefs.

Virtue Epistemology

Justification depends on the intellectual virtues of the knower, such as open-mindedness, intellectual courage, and intellectual humility.

Access to knowledge

varies widely across the globe, influenced by factors such as socioeconomic status, education systems, cultural norms, and political regimes. The digital divide highlights disparities in access to information and technology.

Technology

profoundly impacts how knowledge is created, shared, and accessed.

knowledge is power

underscores how those who control knowledge can influence societal norms, policies, and governance.