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Summary of Epistemology topic of Philosophy Alevel
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Summary of Epistemology topic of Philosophy Alevel
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THE DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGEthere are three kinds of knowledge
1) ability → knowledge how, eg I know how to ride a bike
2) acquaintance → knowledge of, eg I know Fred well
3) propositional → knowledge that, eg I know that London is the capital of England
when we talk about the definition of knowledge, we are talking about the definition of propositional knowledge
justified true belief
the tripartite view
- Plato argues that for something to be knowledge it must be:
- justified
- true
- belief
- X knows that Y if and only if
1) Y is true
2) X believes that Y, and
3) X is justified in believing that Y
necessary and sufficient conditions
- each of the three conditions are necessary for knowledge
- justified: it cannot be knowledge unless it is properly justified
- eg, you flip a coin and your friend says that they know it is going to land on heads - even
if it does land on heads they didn’t know it as it was a guess, therefore it wasn’t
knowledge
- true: you cannot know something if it isn’t true
- eg, if someone said ‘I know that the moon is made of cheese’ you wouldn’t consider that
knowledge because it isn't true
- belief: if you do not believe it, you cannot say it is knowledge
- together, these necessary conditions are said to be jointly sufficient
necessary condition → condition that must be present for an event to occur
sufficient condition → conditions that will produce the event
- a necessary condition must be there, but it alone doesn’t provide sufficient cause for the
occurrence of the event
- eg if you want an a* on your test, it is necessary that you write your name on the paper but not
sufficient
edmund gettier - cases against justified true belief
the coin scenario
1) Smith and Jones are interviewing for the same job
2) Smith hears the interviewer say “I’m going to give Jones the job”
3) Smith also sees Jones count 10 coins from his pocket
4) Smith thus forms the belief that “the man who will get the job has 10 coins in his pocket”
5) but Smith gets the job, not Jones
6) and, by coincidence, Smith also has 10 coins in his pocket
Smith’s belief is:
- justified: he hears the interview and sees Jones has 10 coins in his pocket
- true: the man who gets the job has 10 coins in his pocket
, - belief: it is his belief, so he believes it
- despite being a justified true belief, we don’t want to say that his belief counts as knowledge,
because it’s just luck that led him to being correct, showing that the tripartite definition is not
sufficient
the ford scenario
1) Smith has strong evidence that Jones owns a Ford
2) Smith has another friend, Brown, and he doesn’t know where Brown is
3) Smith selects three place names at random and makes three propositions
a) either Jones owns a Ford, or Brown is in Boston
b) either Jones owns a Ford, or Brown is in Barcelona
c) either Jones owns a Ford, or Brown is in Belgium
4) Smith has correctly inferred the propositions from another proposition (that Jones owns a Ford)
5) Smith is therefore completely justified in believing these propositions
6) however, Jones does not own a Ford, but is driving a rented car, and Brown is actually in
Belgium
7) Smith does not know three is true, even though
a) 3 is true
b) Smith believes that 3 is true, and
c) Smith is justified in believing that 3 is true
Gettier cases have two common characteristics
fallibility
- the justification that is present within each case is fallible
- although it provides good support for the truth of the belief in question, that leaves open at least
the possibility of the beliefs being false
luck
- it is always based on luck whether JTB is true or false
justified true belief and no false lemmas
the no false lemmas definition of knowledge aims to strengthen the justification condition of the tripartite
definition
- James has knowledge of P if:
1) P is true
2) James believes that P
3) James’ belief is justified
4) James did not infer that P from anything false
no false lemmas → no false beliefs or assumptions
example
- you were checking the football results in a newspaper without realising that the paper was a year old
- this is a false lemma, even if one of the results is true it still wouldn’t be counted as knowledge
example that would be true for justified true belief but not true for this response
- you walk into a kitchen and see two apples in a kitchen
- you believe there are two apples in the kitchen
- however, the apples are actually candles, but there are two apples in the cupboard
- this is justified true belief but there is a false assumption
, how does this response apply to the Gettier cases?
- with the coin gettier case:
- the belief that Jones will get the job is a false lemma
- so, it is not knowledge
☑ proves this case wrong
problem
the fake barn county
- in fake barn county, the locals created fake barns that look identical to real barns
- Henry is driving through fake barn county, but he doesn’t know the locals do this
- Henry often thinks ‘there’s a barn’ when he looks at the fake barns
- these beliefs are not knowledge because they are not true, the barns are fake
- however, Henry looks at the one real barn and thinks ‘there’s a barn’
- this time, the belief is true
- its also justified by his visual perception of the barn
- and its not inferred from anything false
- but, this shows that no false lemmas definition must be false
- Henry’s belief is not knowledge, he is just lucky in this instance
reliabilism
knowledge is a true belief that is produced by a reliable process
- James knows that P if:
1) P is true
2) James believes that P
3) James’ belief that P is caused by a reliable method
- a reliable method is one that produced a high percentage of true beliefs
- eg, if you have good eyesight, its likely that your eyesight would constitute a reliable method of
forming true beliefs
- but if you form a belief through an unreliable method, eg guessing, then it wouldn’t count as knowledge
even if the resultant belief is true
example
1) a vet picks up a hamster, examines it, and considers it male
2) a boy picks up a hamster, notices it twitches its ear when he calls it Barry, so considers it male because
Barry is a male name
- the vet has studied hamsters, so has knowledge
- the boy doesn’t reliably produce true belief, so isn't knowledge
how does this response apply to the Gettier cases?
- with the Ford case:
- they are relying on visual evidence and inference, therefore it's not knowledge
☑ proves this case wrong
pros → children and animals
- allows for young children and animals to have knowledge
- we attribute knowledge to young children and animals
- eg, it seems perfectly sensible to say that a seagull knows where to find food or that a baby
knows when its mother is speaking
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