Studied by 4 people
This one actually requires preparation </3
Epistemic (vs. Phenomenological) Objectivity
Epistemic means connected to knowledge
Epistemic objectivity is coming to a conclusion based on tangible evidence
judgements based on a discernment of sufficient evidence
only way to be an object epistemically is to be a subject succeeding in the performance of the transcendental method
examples: here’s someone achieving this!
Evidence: Necessary, Sufficient
information necessary to critically think
what is considered evidence can vary from person to person
evidence is the primary thing a conclusion is built off of
sufficient evidence: set of things I need to complete the method
All parts of evidence are necessary, but each part on it’s own are not sufficient
Examples:
Someone’s alibi is necessary evidence but not enough to build a case against them
That along with DNA at a crime scene is sufficient evidence to make a conclusion
Interpretation and Knowing
the way that the human mind perceives information, this varies from person to person
more often than not influenced by human bias
anything we know is demonstrated interpretation
Knowing is when all conditions are met
ex: is this a projector? it meets the requirements, so yes it is.
If you determine something is a projector without the sufficient evidence, then just an interpretation
Certainty and Demonstration vs. Certitude and Justification
certainty: the state i’m in when i’ve come to know what I know - facts
Certitude: felt certainty
justification: whatever story you tell to prove certitude
Critical Thinking
the long thinking process that is used less often than the quick thinking process used throughout the day
requires more time and energy to come to a conclusion that is more fully fledged and attainable than the quick thinking process
thinking that separates rather than looking at a mush of ideas
ex: american freedom
what are the conditions to this freedom?
what do I mean by this?
how do I know this is true?
an earnest effort to be objective
Truth and falsity
the basic meaning of truth, not about the universe (ex: my phone is on my desk)
to be a truth is to be the content of a judgement based on an insight
Possible for someone to understand the idea and the conditions that are met
Falsity: if the insight is not available for anyone to have than the judgement is false
Real, Reality, and Ontology
something is real if:
you got intelligible content
there are no conditions
reality:
the set of all real entities
anything intelligible and existent is part of reality
ontology:
the study of what does it mean to be a real thing
ex: this class!
Psyche and Mind, Person vs Animal
Mind:
curiosity and emotional component
ex: transcendental yearning method
psyche:
all sensory experiences and emotions
human psyche is totality of the human mind that helps us navigate through life
animals don’t have the mind, only the psyche
Define foundational traditions
a specific epistemology and its logically consequent ontology
a claim about what knowing is and a logical consequent claim about what real is (what do you have to do to know that something exists)
epistemology: an account of what we do when we know
ontology: an account of what it is to be real
Define intuitionism
indicates an account in which knowing is characterized as a passive process
a process in which we know because we experience certain kinds of conscious states
define discursivism
indicates an account in which knowing is characterized as an active process
a process in which we produce the knowledge by interpreting successfully
asking and successfully asking questions
define transcendental discursivism
the entirely correct foundational tradition, given the dispositive evidence of operational incontrovertibility
every other foundational tradition is therefore to some important extent mistaken because each is wholly or partially incompatible with transcendental discursivism
one’s thinking is therefore philosophically contaminated to the extent that it is influenced by any foundational tradition other than transcendental discursivism
give the epistemological premise and ontological conclusion for transcendental discursivism
epistemological premise:
one knows that something exists if and only if:
understands an intelligibility
understands that that intelligibility is (factually or valuably) unconditioned
affirms that that intelligibility is (factually or valuably) unconditioned
(think transcendental yearning method)
ontological premise: something is real if and only if it can be known to exist
ontological conclusion: therefore, something is real if and only if it can be the object of someone:
understanding an intelligibility
understanding that that intelligibility is (factually or valuably) unconditioned
affirming that that intelligibility is (factually or valuably) unconditioned
that is, something is real, if and only if it is an unconditioned intelligibility
Define a real entity’s value in sensory intuitionist terms
a real entity’s value or disvalue is nothing other than an arbitrary eliciting of positive or negative emotions upon being experienced as a sensory datum
Give the epistemological premise and ontological conclusion for sensory intuitionism
epistemological premise: one knows that something exists if and only if one experiences a sensory datum
ontological premise: something is real if and only if it can be known to exist
ontological conclusion: therefore, something is real if and only if it can be a sensory datum
Give the epistemological premise and ontological conclusion for confident mental intuitionism
epistemological premise: one knows that something exists if an only if one experiences an abstract intelligibility (eg. truth, justice, education) in a conscious state
ontological premise: something is real if an only if it can be known to exist
ontological conclusion: therefore, something is real if an only if it can be an intellectual datum
define intellectual experience and intellectual datum
intellectual experience: experiencing one or more abstract intelligibilities in a conscious state
intellectual datum: an abstract intelligibility in a conscious state
How does transcendental discursivism correct confident mental intuitionism
we do not experience abstract intelligibilities in conscious states; we can experience them only as concepts that we produce when we conceive on a basis of our second-level understanding
How is confident mental intuitionism confident, and what does it produce?
it is confident because it asserts that we can have an intellectual experience and can therefore know
produces the expectation that reality mostly or wholly features fixed patterns, since abstract intelligibilities have fixed content
What is skeptical mental intuitionism?
identical to confident mental intuitionism except that it denies that we can have intellectual experiences and so denies that we can know
asserts that the contents of our consciousness have no known relation to reality
what is confident mental intuitionism
to know a thing exists is to see it with the mind
ex: i know what a person is because i’ve seen that nature of humanity itself with the eye of the mind
give the epistemological premise and ontological conclusion for exhaustive discursivism
epistemological premise: one knows that something exists if and only if one understands all intelligibility exists
ontological premise:something is real if an only if it can be known to exist
ontological conclusion: therefore something is real if and only if it is the totality of intelligibility
what is exhaustive discursivism
they are stuck on the intelligible level
Believe that you need to know the intelligibility of everything to understand anything
what two definitions define our associative machine
1) the automatic and ongoing formation of associative networks as a reaction to our experiences
(the formation of our associative networks)
2) making judgements and constructing rationales for those judgements because they adhere with one or more relevant associative network that we have which is the quickest manner of making judgements
Define a critical network
connections among questions, understandings, concepts, judgements, and decisions that are formed via critical thinking
different from our associative network
what is priming?
the phenomenon in which the components of an associative network collectively come to mind when any one component of the network comes to mind
ex: thinking: freedom and democracy when hearing “America”
or thinking: studying, homework, assignments when hearing “school”
name the 8 functions of our associative machine
1) functions to replace/minimize cognitive strain
minimizes the understanding, judging and deciding that is an effect of critical thinking (if we always used critical thinking, our species would not have survived in the wild)
2) attracts us to familiar ideas associatively coherent emotional responses since those ideas do not create cognitive strain
3) repels us from ideas and emotional responses that are not associatively coherent since those those ideas and responses cause cognitive strain
(because of this, we are particularly inclined to presume the existence of causal patterns when random events exhibit a causally meaningless sequence)
4) suppresses doubt and ambiguity to avoid compromising associatively coherent accounts
5) helps us as it produces benign bias
6) can be deployed to develop expertise by using prolonged, disciplined practice to train ourselves to rapidly identify a multitude of patterns in regularly predictable environments
ex: chess games - able to recognize patterns in your opponent’s game
7) misleads us as it produces distortive bias
8) shapes our judgement-making and rationale constructing via the mechanisms of availability and effect
define bias
making specific judgements and constructing rationales for those judgements because those judgements are associatively coherent rather than because those judgements are sufficiently effortful processions through transcendental method
define benign bias
our bias to the extent that its contents would also be produced in sufficiently effortful processions through transcendental method
define distortive bias
our bias to the extent that its contents would not also be produces in sufficiently effortful processions through transcendental method
Name (do not define) the 5 mechanisms that are commonly components of availability and affect
1) substitution
2) the mental shotgun
3) intensity matching
4) anchoring
5) negativity dominance
define substitution
replacing a difficult target question with an easier substitute question
then answering the substitute question as if you are answering the target question
ex: is my life good?
well, I’m happy right now, so yeah my life is good i guess
define the mental shotgun
referring to entirely or partially irrelevant associated considerations when trying to determine something
helps to produce substitute questions from target questions
ex: referring exclusively to current mood when trying to determine overall quality of life
define intensity matching
matching intensities across realms that have little to no relevance to our questions
often instrumental to answering a substitute question and applying the answer to our target questions
ex: i’m moderately sad right now, so my life is moderately bad overall
ex: i did poorly on this one math quiz so i am poor at math
define anchoring
responding to questions about quantity with numbers that are close to an initially introduced, irrelevant number
ex: was Ghandi more or less than 144 when he died?
this would cause you to overestimate his age at death since an impossibly high and irrelevant age number was introduced
define negativity dominance
being more emotionally affected and influenced in our thinking by threats and realized misfortunes than by opportunities and benefits because it is more evolutionary advantageous to respond to threats than to detect and appreciate benefits
commonly leads us to overplay how bad things are and to make consequent irrational choices
Define availability
asking and answering the substitute question:
is x familiar?
as though asking and answering the target question:
is x true?
the more familiar an idea is to you, the more available it is
if x is familiar, we declare it to be true, and our confidence in this statement is directly proportional to how familiar we are with it and vice versa
ex: I can confidently say that women are still systematically oppressed because I am familiar with women’s rights issues including access to safe abortions, and difficulties in sexual assault cases
what two things occur under the influence of availability
more likely to judge that a replicable event always happen in a given context, if the idea of it happening in that context is very familiar
ex: armed robberies always occur at night in big cities
ex: every time I go out alone as a woman, someone is going to try and harm me
we are more likely to judge that a replicable event does not occur in a given context if the idea of it happening in that context is very unfamiliar
ex: armed robberies will never happen during the day in small towns
ex: every time a man goes out alone, no one will try to harm him
define affect
asking and answering the substitute question
do i like x? (do i have a positive emotional response with x)
as though I was asking and answering the target question
is x true? is x good?
to the extent that our thinking is governed by affect, we declare x true or good if we like it
Define noise
a set of judgements in which:
each judgement belongs to a common category
ex: evaluating a TOK essay
each judgement is to be made by using one and the same recognized procedure
ex: evaluating a TOK essay with reference to the IB rubric
each judgement is an error because the assessor fails to use that recognized procedure
not a single factor or set of factors that explains why all the errors are made, so the production of errors is to some extent, random
there is an inconsistency among errors that exceed an expected and unproblematic boundary of disagreement
ex: one teacher giving a student a 5 while another gives them a 9
Define system noise
noise where the assessor(s) is a specialist making judgements about their specialty
ex: an umpire making calls in their baseball game
ex: a doctor making diagnoses at their work
Define level noise
differences in the average kind of error that one assessor vs another contributes to a form of noise
ex: an umps strike zone is too narrow vs another umps strike zone that’s too wide
define pattern noise
an assessor’s stable traits causing them to deviate from the average kind of error they contribute to a form of noise
ex: an ump making their too narrow strike zone when a hitter has a batting average below .200
define occasion noise
transient factors causing an assessor to deviate from the average kind of error they contribute to a form of noise
ex: a uni admissions officer is happy because the weather is good so they accept more kids that day!
epistemic (vs phenomenological) subjectivity
- it’s a judgement but no body can say that they know it is 100% correct
examples:
the theme/message someone takes from an art piece
what is religious consciousness
includes the experience, feeling the change it produces, embracing it, and it’s downstream effects
the experience:
the experience offers you everything you’re after for the intelligible, actual, and good as it’s finding you rather than you finding it
if you choose to embrace it:
your approach to life changes as you have the extra motivation to succeed because you are more motivated to make choices towards the glory you’ve tasted
downstream effects:
value of what is good is more sensitive because you’ve felt the endgame and everything that’s good has that vibe of glory
examples: someone undergoing this transformation
could be something like having holy communion for the first time
could also be a situation as simple as being in the park
example is less about external factors and more of the feeling that overcomes you
what is the irreligious response and its cognitive and moral effects?
if you choose to reject the experience you have that offers you a taste of glory, you are back to where you were before
what is a religion?
anything that is offering you a story about what all of this means
offers some interpretation of the transformative thing you’ve undergone and what it means for the whole universe and your life
also provides practices for people to do in response to the interpretation
examples:
christianity
judaism
give the epistemological premise and ontological conclusion for skeptical mental intuitionism
epistemological premise: one knows that something exists if and only if one experiences an abstract intelligibility
ontological premise: something is real if and only if it can be known to exist
ontological conclusion: therefore, something is real if and only if it can be an intellectual datum
(however, for skeptical mental intuitionism, they believe no one can actually have an abstract intelligibility, so no one can actually know anything is real)
Note 
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