Phil Oct. 27- Knwledge and introspection

Malcoms cascadilla gorge thought experiment

  • Imagine 2 people imagining to go for a walk at cascadilla gorge → one person responds with id like to walk near some water →

  1. You say ‘I believe that it wont be dry although i have no particualar reason for thinking so” And its not dry

  2. You say ‘I believe that it wont be dry because it rained only three days ago and usually after flows into the gorge for at least that long after a rain”. And its not dry (i believe means hesitant not a claim of knowledge)

  3. You say ‘ I know it won’t be dry” and give the reason in 2. And its not dry

  • Only difference is confidence

  • 1 has no reason, 2 has reason

  1. You say ‘ I know that it wont be dry’ and give a stronger reason than in 2 eg) ‘I saw a lot of water flowing in the gorge when i passed it this morning’ and its not dry

  2. The same as 4 except its dry

  • The LESSON: it can be that the knowledge that p is true should differ from the mere belief that p is true only in the respect that in one case p is true and in the other false

  • ALSO: Frrom reflection on cases 2

  • S kows the p if and only if

  1. S believes that p

  2. P is true and

  3. S is justified in believing that p

Knowledge is justified true belief

  • Gettier cases: Cases in which s believes that p, p is true and s is justified in believing that p, but we wouldn’t say that s knows that p

  • Gettiers case 1

D) Jen’s is the man who will get the job, and jones has ten coins in his pocket

E) The man who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket

Unbeknownst to him, smith will get the job, and unbeknownst to him to him, smith has ten coins in his pocket

So,

  1. Smith believes e

  2. E is true

  3. Smith is justified

Russels stopped clock

  • Russel looks at a clock that’s told time reliably for years, It says its 2;45 he concludes is is 2:45. And indeed. It is 2:45. But the clock stopped exactly 12 hours ago

  • Russelbelieves 2;45

  • But does he know it?

Gettier is aiming to show definition does not specify all conditions

Gettier showed that truth + belief + justification can all be present,

but knowledge still isn’t guaranteed — because of luck.k,