philosophy a level epistemology

a posteriori

a posteriori

knowledge of propositions that can only be known to be true or false through sense experience

a priori

knowledge of propositions that does not require sense experience to be known to be true or false

ability knowledge

knowing ‘how’ to do something

acquaintance knowledge

knowing ‘of’ someone or something

analytic

a proposition that is true or false in virtue of the meaning of the words. e.g. a triangle has three sides

belief

affirmation of, or conviction regarding, the truth of a proposition

copy principle (hume)

all simpleideas are copies of impressions

direct realism

the immediate objects of our perception are mind independent objects and their properties

disjunctive theory of perception

if something looks a certain way, then one of two things is going on; either I directly perceive a mind-independent object, or it appears to me as if there is something that is a mind-independent object, but there is nothing there.

empirical

relating to or deriving from experience, especially sense experience but also including experimental scientific investigation

empiricism

the theory that there can be no a priori knowledge of synthetic propositions about the world. all a priori knowledge is of analytic propositions, while all knowledge of synthetic propositions is gained through sense experience

Hume’s classical empiricism

the theory that all knowledge is gained from experience; all concepts are gained from sense experience or experience of our own minds; and all knowledge of synthetic propositions about the world is gained through sense experience

epistemology

the study of knowledge and related concepts, including belief, justification and certainty

external world

everything that exists outside of our minds

gettier case

a situation in which we have justified true belief, but not knowledge, because the belief is only accidentally true, given the evidence that justifies it

hallucination

a non-veridical perceptual experience that is not coherently connected with the rest of our perceptual experience

argument from hallucination

the possibility of hallucinatory experiences that are subjectively indistinguishable from a veridical perception means that we don’t immediately perceive physical objects, but sense-data

hume’s fork

we can have knowledge of two sorts of claim; relations of ideas or matters of fact

idea (Locke)

an object of perception, thought, or understanding. Locke uses the term to refer to a complete thought, taking the form of a proposition, a sensation or sensory experience, or a concept.

complex idea

an idea that is derived from two or more simple ideas

simple idea

a single, uniform conception, with nothing distinguishable within it

Berkeley’s idealism

the immediate objects of perception are mind-dependent objects (ideas). the external world doesn’t exist. (to be is to be perceived)

illusion

a distortion of the senses such that what we perceive is different from what exists

argument from illusion

illusions can be subjectively indistinguishable from veridical perception, so we see sense data immediately, and not physical objects

impression (locke and hume)

the things that we are immediately and directly aware of which can either be impressions of ‘sensation’ or ‘reflection’. impressions of sensation derive from our senses, impressions of reflection derive from our experience of our mind, including emotions.

indirect realism

the immediate objects of our perception are mind-dependent sense data that are caused by and represent mind-independent objects in the external world.

infallibilism

I^JTB=K. to be knowledge, a belief must be certain. if we can doubt a belief then it is not certain and so it is not knowledge.

innate

knowledge or ideas that are in some way built into the structure of the mind, rather than gained from sense experience.

innatism

the claim that there is at least some innate knowledge, not derived from experience, but somehow part of the structure of the mind.

justification

what is offered as grounds for believing an assertion

lemma

a claim made part way through an argument

matters of fact

states of affairs, how the world is. a posteriori, synthetic and contingent

mind-dependent

depending on a mind for existence or definition

mind-independent

not depending on a mind for existence or definition

necessary condition

one proposition is a necessary condition of another when the second cannot be true while the first is false

no false lemmas

JTB+NFL=K. the no false lemmas condition is added to the tripartite theory of knowledge and says that for something to count as knowledge it must be the case that you did not infer it from anything false

perception

awareness of apparently external objects through use of the senses

immediate objects of perception

what we are directly aware of in perception

argument from perceptual variation

different people perceive the same physical object differently. therefore, what each person perceives is how the object appears to them. this appearance is mind-dependent sense-data and physical objects are not perceived directly.

physical object

material objects e.g. table, book, our body, plants

primary quality

properties that are utterly inseparable from a physical object, whatever changes it goes through, even if it is divided into smaller and smaller pieces. the object has these properties ‘in and of itself’. locke lists externsion, shape, motion, number, and solidity as primary qualities.

relational property

a characteristic that something has only in relation to another thing, e.g. pete is taller than bob, manchester is north of london

proposition

a declarative statement such as ‘mice are mammals’. propositions can go after ‘that’

propositional knowledge

knowledge ‘that’ some claim is true or false

reflection (locke)

our experience of the internal operations of our minds, gained through introspection or an awareness of what the mind is doing. more generally, thinking.

relations of ideas

relations of ideas are established by pure thought or reflection and are ‘intuitively and demonstratively certain’. a priori, necessary and analytic

relativism

the theory that some area of discourse (e.g. knowledge or morality) is relative to a society or person. according to relativism a proposition may be true for one person but not another, or an action may be morally right in one society but not another.

reliabilism

RTB=K. the theory that you know that P if;

P is true

you believe that P

your belief is caused by a reliable cognitive process

represent

a relation of one thing to another established by an accurate and systematic correlation of the first to the second

resemblance

a relation of similarity between two things in properties or appearance

secondary quality

properties that physical objects have that are ‘nothing but powers to produce various sensations in us’. Locke lists colours, sounds, tastes, smells and temperature.

sensation

our experience of objects outside the mind, perceived through the senses

sense experience

experiences given to us by our senses

sense data

mental images or representations of what is perceived, the ‘content’ of perceptual experience. if sense-data exist, they are the immediate objects or perception and are private, mind-dependent mental things.

senses

capacities that give us experience of the external world

solipsism

the view that only oneself, one’s mind, exists. there are no mind-independent physical objects and there are no other minds either.

sufficient condition

one proposition is a sufficient condition for another when the first cannot be true while the second is false

synthetic

a proposition that is not analytic, but true or false depending on how the world is

tabula rasa

‘blank slate’. Locke claims that at birth our mind is a tabula rasa, meaning we have no innate knowledge or ideas

time-lag argument

because it takes time for us to perceive physical objects, we don’t see them directly. e.g. the sun - takes 8 minutes for its light to reach earth, so we are not seeing it directly

tripartite definition

justified, true belief is necessary and sufficient for propositional knowledge.

S knows that P if and only if;

S is justified in believing that P

P is true

S believes that P

unperceived objects

objects that exist when not perceived by anyone

veridical

a proposition that is true or an experience that represents the world as it actually is

virtue epistemology

VTB=K.

S knows that P if and only if:

P is true

S believes that P

S’s belief that P is the result of S exercising their epistemic virtues

epistemic virtue

a skill, ability or trait or the mind/person that contributes to the good end of gaining knowledge and forming true beliefs