Epistemology and Critical Thinking

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terminology, key philosophers, logical principles, informal fallacies, theories of truth, and major epistemological perspectives from the lecture notes.

Epistemology

The study of knowledge, dealing with questions about what knowledge is, how we acquire it, what justifies our beliefs, and whether we can actually know something.

Justified True Belief (JTB)

The Platonic analysis of knowledge requiring three components: justification (having a good reason), truth (what you believe is actually true), and belief (actually believing it).

Edmund Gettier

The philosopher who challenged whether Justified True Belief (JTB) is sufficient for knowledge, illustrated by counterexamples such as the Lunch Story.

Alvin Goldman

The philosopher associated with questioning whether traditional justification or an account is necessary for knowledge, as illustrated by the Tyson Plant Story.

Justification

The ability to explain why you believe something is true.

Critical Thinking

Purposeful thinking used to move from a problem or question toward a solution or answer, consisting of both skills and spirit.

Consistency

A relationship between two statements where they do not contradict each other.

Coherence

A relationship between two statements where they do not contradict each other and actively support each other.

Weak Critical Thinking

The application of critical thinking where you can defend your own position against criticism without necessarily examining your own assumptions.

Strong Critical Thinking

The application of critical thinking where you are willing to examine and challenge your own assumptions and arguments.

Logic

The field of study dealing with the form and structure of arguments.

Premise

A statement in an argument that provides support for the conclusion.

Conclusion

The claim that an argument is trying to prove based on its premises.

Validity

A structural property of an argument where the conclusion logically follows from the premises, regardless of whether the premises are actually true.

Soundness

A property of an argument that requires both a valid structure and true premises.

Deduction

A form of reasoning where the conclusion is every bit as certain as the premises.

Induction

A probabilistic form of reasoning where the conclusion is not absolutely certain, commonly used in scientific reasoning.

Fallacy

An error in an argument or reasoning.

Informal Fallacy

An error in reasoning that can be identified in ordinary conversational language.

Ad Hominem

An informal fallacy that involves attacking the person making an argument instead of addressing their argument.

Begging the Question

An informal fallacy where the conclusion is essentially used as one of the premises, also called circular reasoning.

Straw Person

An informal fallacy where someone changes an opponent's argument into a weaker version and then attacks that weaker version.

Appeal to Authority

An informal fallacy that uses an authority as evidence; it is legitimate only when the person cited is actually a legitimate authority on that subject.

Red Herring

An informal fallacy that introduces an irrelevant topic to distract from the actual argument, such as appealing to emotion.

Leading the Question

A question worded in a way designed to produce a particular response.

False Disjunct

An informal fallacy where only two choices are presented even though more possibilities exist.

Tenacity

Closed-mindedness characterized by a refusal to consider arguments or evidence on the other side.

Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE)

An argument form using general guidelines (simplicity, completeness, coherence) to determine which explanation is better; described as the least reliable form of argumentation.

Correspondence Theory

A theory of truth associated with Aristotle holding that a statement is true if it matches reality.

Coherence Theory

A theory of truth holding that a proposition is true based on its coherence with a specified set of propositions.

Pragmatic Theory

A theory of truth holding that truth is connected to the effectiveness and practical application of an idea in actual practice.

William James

Pragmatist philosopher who viewed truth as a process of verification and validation defined by its practical consequences or 'cash-value'.

Continental Rationalism

The philosophical school of thought associated with René Descartes that emphasizes reason and a priori reasoning as the foundation of knowledge.

Methodological Skepticism

René Descartes's approach of systematically doubting any belief that can be doubted to discover an indubitable foundation for knowledge.

Dream Hypothesis

Descartes's argument that because we cannot prove with absolute certainty that we are awake, empirical/sensory beliefs can be doubted.

Demon Hypothesis

Descartes's radical doubt scenario involving a powerful deceiver, which creates doubt about even a priori beliefs.

Cogito Ergo Sum

'I think, therefore I am'; Descartes's foundational truth establishing that the act of doubting or thinking proves the thinker's existence.

British Empiricism

The school of philosophical thought associated with John Locke holding that all knowledge comes from experience.

Tabula Rasa

John Locke's concept of the mind as a 'blank slate' at birth, lacking innate knowledge and receiving ideas through experience.

Sensation

According to Locke, the source of ideas derived from interaction with the external world through our senses.

Reflection

According to Locke, the source of ideas derived from observing the internal operations of our own minds.

Simple Ideas

According to Locke, direct, uncombined perceptual ideas received through sensation or reflection.

Complex Ideas

According to Locke, ideas constructed or abstractly combined by the mind from multiple simple ideas.

Primary Qualities

Properties that actually exist in objects themselves regardless of perception, such as size, dimension, and mass.

Secondary Qualities

Powers in objects to produce sensory experiences in perceivers, such as color and sound.

Substance

In Locke's philosophy, the metaphysical 'glue' that holds the primary and secondary properties of an individual object together.

Idealism

The philosophical position associated with George Berkeley holding that reality consists exclusively of ideas and minds.

Immaterialism

George Berkeley's rejection of material substance, asserting that objects cannot exist independently of being perceived.

Subjective Idealism

The philosophical position asserting that only ideas and minds exist.

Objective Idealism

George Berkeley's doctrine incorporating God to account for the permanence and continuous existence of objects when unperceived by human minds.

Relations of Ideas

David Hume's category of human reasoning comprising mathematical and logical truths discoverable through thought alone and demonstratively certain.

Matters of Fact

David Hume's category of reasoning concerning claims about the actual world, learned through experience and where the opposite is always conceivable without contradiction.

Cause and Effect

According to David Hume, the relation on which all reasoning about matters of fact depends, which cannot be discovered a priori but must be learned through repeated experience.