Propositional Knowledge, Definition Of
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A Critical Survey of Some Recent Philosophical Research in China
Philosophia DOI 10.1007/s11406-016-9768-x A Critical Survey of Some Recent Philosophical Research in China Xingming Hu1 Received: 12 January 2016 /Revised: 23 March 2016 /Accepted: 16 September 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract In this paper, I survey some recent literature produced by the established Chinese philosophers who regularly publish in Chinese philosophy journals and work in Mainland China. Specifically, I review the recent research of these philosophers in two areas: Chinese Philosophy and epistemology. In each area, I focus on two topics that have caught the attention of a lot of Chinese philosophers. I argue that the Chinese philosophers’ research on these topics has two prevalent problems: (i) a lot of argu- ments they make are weak; (ii) they tend not to critically engage with others. I discuss a metaphilosophical objection that weak argumentation and disengagement are not vices of philosophical research. I also try to make sense of (i) and (ii) in terms of some cultural factors. Keywords The goal of philosophy. Chinese philosophy. The legitimacy problem . Confucian ethics . Epistemology . The Gettier Problem . External World Skepticism 1 Introduction How has the philosophical research been done in Mainland China? In this paper, I survey some recent literature produced by the established Chinese philosophers who regularly publish in Chinese philosophy journals and work in Mainland China. Specifically, I review the recent research of these philoso- phers in two areas: Chinese Philosophy and epistemology. In each area, I focus on two topics that have caught the attention of a lot of Chinese philosophers. I argue that the Chinese philosophers’ research on these topics has some preva- lent problems, which might be explained in terms of some metaphilosophical commitments and cultural factors. -
Truth Analysis of the Gettier Argument
TRUTH ANALYSIS OF THE GETTIER ARGUMENT YUSSIF YAKUBU Published in: METAPHILOSOPHY Vol. 47, No. 3, July 2016, 449-466 Abstract: Gettier (1963) presented the now famous Gettier problem as a challenge to epistemology. The methods Gettier used to construct his challenge, however, utilized certain principles of formal logic that are actually inappropriate for the natural language discourse of the Gettier cases. In that challenge to epistemology, Gettier also makes truth claims that would be considered controversial in analytic philosophy of language. The Gettier challenge has escaped scrutiny in these other relevant academic disciplines, however, because of its fac¸adeas an epistemological analysis. This article examines Gettiers methods with the analytical tools of logic and analytic philosophy of language. Keywords: definite description, Russellian quantification, Edmund Gettier, referents and truth, classical logic. Introduction Gettier cases are hypothetical scenarios that purport to demonstrate, contrary to the standard epistemological view, that justified true belief (JTB) is not a sufficient condition for knowledge. In a typical Gettier- type case, a premise that “justifiably” leads an agent to a belief turns out to be false, but the belief the agent derives turns out “by coinci- dence to be true.” The believing agent in question is thus deemed to have a true belief that is justifiably reached, and he therefore, while satisfying the conditions for knowledge, nevertheless does not have knowledge, because the premise upon which he formed his belief is false. Epistemologists have generally taken Gettiers arguments against JTB to be successful, and have been trying, for the five decades since Gettiers paper, to come up with a definition or conception of knowl- edge that would not be undermined by the Gettier-challenge (Zagzeb- ski 1994; Shope 2002, 33; Sosa 2007; see also Kvanvig 2011, 29). -
Gettier Cases
The University of Manchester Research Gettier Cases Document Version Accepted author manuscript Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer Citation for published version (APA): Blouw, P., Buckwalter, W., & Turri, J. (2018). Gettier Cases: A Taxonomy. In R. Borges, C. de Almeida, & P. D. Klein (Eds.), Explaining knowledge: new essays on the Gettier problem (pp. 242-252). Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/explaining-knowledge-9780198724551?cc=gb&lang=en&# Published in: Explaining knowledge: new essays on the Gettier problem Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Takedown policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s Takedown Procedures [http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo] or contact [email protected] providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:05. Oct. 2021 * Gettier Cases: A Taxonomy Peter Blouw [email protected] Wesley Buckwalter [email protected] John Turri [email protected] Short Abstract: The term “Gettier Case” picks out a wide array of thought experiments involving a justified true belief that, many philosophers allege, is intuitively not knowledge. -
Knowledge and Its Limits Professor Wesley Holliday MWF 10-11 UC Berkeley, Spring 2013 101 Barker
PHIL 4 - Knowledge and Its Limits Professor Wesley Holliday MWF 10-11 UC Berkeley, Spring 2013 101 Barker Syllabus Description In this course, we will investigate questions about the nature and limits of knowledge: Is knowledge compatible with the possibility of human error? Is the structure of our knowledge like a building that rests on a foundation or like a web held together by its connections? What are the requirements for knowledge? Can one know by accident? How can we acquire knowledge and avoid misinformation from others? Whom can we trust? Prerequisites There are no official prerequisites for this course. Success in the course will require the patience to carefully read, re-read, and think about difficult philosophical texts, as well as the willingness to work on developing your skills for clear and rigorous analytical writing. Readings There is a reader for the course sold by Copy Central. Versions of most readings are hyperlinked from this syllabus or bSpace, but the official versions are in the reader. Requirements { Section participation (including Piazza) and quizzes (10% of grade) { In-class exam on February 22 (15% of grade) { 3-5 page paper due on bSpace by March 17, 5pm (20% of grade) { 3-5 page paper due on bSpace by April 14, 5pm (25% of grade) { In-class final exam on May 14, 3-6pm (30% of grade) In-class participation will be taken into account in cases of borderline grades. (CDC recommendation: if you are sick, stay home until 24 hours after symptoms stop.) Sections All enrolled students must attend a weekly discussion section. -
A Defense of Explanatory Coherentism December 13, 2013
Reason & Explanation: A defense of explanatory coherentism Ted L. Poston University of South Alabama December 13, 2013 ii Contents Preface vii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 A brief history of coherentism . 2 1.2 Two traditional objections to coherentism . 7 1.2.1 The Input Objection . 7 1.2.2 Alternative Systems Objection . 9 1.3 Overview . 11 2 Epistemic Conservatism 17 2.1 The anti-conservative probability argument . 19 2.2 Conservative Justification & Warranted Assertion . 26 2.3 Conservatism & Autobiographical Epistemology . 28 2.4 The `Extra Boost' and Conversion objections . 32 2.4.1 The \Extra Boost" Objection . 32 2.4.2 Conversion objections . 33 2.5 Conservatism & the perspectival character of justification . 35 2.5.1 The argument from perspective . 36 2.5.2 Two challenges . 38 2.6 Conclusion . 40 3 Reasons without first philosophy 41 3.1 The Basic Reasons Dilemma . 42 3.1.1 The First Horn . 42 3.1.2 The Second Horn . 44 3.2 The argument against first philosophy . 45 3.2.1 The nature of basic reasons . 45 3.2.2 No First Philosophy . 48 3.3 Framework Reasons . 51 iii iv CONTENTS 3.4 Weak foundationalism & framework reasons . 56 3.5 Bergmann on foundationalism and epistemic circularity . 58 3.6 Conclusion . 62 4 Explanation & Justification 63 4.1 Explanation & its virtues . 64 4.1.1 Three arguments for primitiveness . 67 4.1.2 The virtues of explanation . 73 4.2 An explanationist theory of justification . 78 4.2.1 The goal . 78 4.2.2 The Ex-J account . 79 4.2.3 Ex-J & Mentalism . -
A Social-Cognitive Approach to Epistemology by Jeremy AB Lent
Knowing by Example: A Social-Cognitive Approach to Epistemology by Jeremy A. B. Lent A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophy) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Professor Elizabeth S. Anderson, Co-Chair Professor James M. Joyce, Co-Chair Associate Professor Maria Lasonen-Aarnio Professor Richard L. Lewis Professor Peter A. Railton TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Mysterious Knowledge 1 II. Foundation of Trust 20 III. Trouble from Within 55 IV. Trouble from Without 95 V. Beyond the Armchair 137 VI. Social-Cognitive Epistemology 169 BIBLIOGRAPHY 186 ii CHAPTER I: Mysterious Knowledge 1.1 A Puzzle The verb “know” and its cognates are among the most commonly used words in the English language: According to the Corpus of Contemporary American English, “know” is the 49th most common English word, the 10th most common verb, and the most common mental-state verb (Davies and Gardner 2010). Yet some of our “know”-related linguistic habits are quite puzzling—in particular, our habits surrounding “know-that” constructions, such as “I know that ‘know’ is the 10th most common English verb.”1 A particularly striking set of puzzles became widely recognized—at least among philosophers and linguists—in the wake of Edmund Gettier’s 1963 paper, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” Until that point, not many philosophers or linguists had put much effort into charting how we use the word “know” in everyday life, let alone developing a general theory about those uses. Gettier took as his foil the theory that when we think about knowledge, we think of something roughly like “a true belief for which the believer has sufficient justification”.2 (By calling a belief “justified”, Gettier and 1 “Know-that” is to be distinguished from “know-how” (e.g., “I know how to search the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)”) and “know-of” (e.g., “I know of the COCA,” or “I know the editors of the COCA”). -
Phil. 159: Epistemology Oct. 2, 2018 Lecture 9: Zagzebski on the Gettier Problem I
Phil. 159: Epistemology Oct. 2, 2018 Lecture 9: Zagzebski on the Gettier Problem I. The Gettier Problem (Recap) Two more Gettier cases: Fake Barn Country (Ginet): I’m driving through the countryside with my son. I look to my right and see a (real) barn in broad daylight, under good viewing conditions, etc. As a result, I come to believe that I just passed a barn. However, in the vicinity there are a large number of fake, papier-mâché barns, any of which would have fooled me into thinking it was a real barn. Two Viruses (Zagzebski): I’m a doctor and have very good inductive evidence that my patient, Smith, is suffering from virus X: he exhibits all of the symptoms of this virus, a blood test has shown that his antibody levels against virus X are extremely high, and his symptoms are not compatible with any other known virus. As a result, I come to believe that Smith has virus X. However, Smith’s symptoms are due to a distinct and unknown virus Y, and he exhibits high antibody levels to virus X because of various idiosyncratic features of his biochemistry that cause him to maintain unusually high antibody levels long after a past infection. As it turns out, though, Smith has very recently contracted virus X, but so recently that he does not yet exhibit symptoms caused by X, nor has there been time for a change in the antibody levels due to this infection. In each of these cases, I seem to have a justified true belief that doesn’t count as knowledge. -
The Gettier Problem and Legal Proof
Alabama Law Scholarly Commons Working Papers Faculty Scholarship 4-29-2010 The Gettier Problem and Legal Proof Michael S. Pardo University of Alabama - School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers Recommended Citation Michael S. Pardo, The Gettier Problem and Legal Proof, (2010). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers/288 This Working Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Alabama Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Working Papers by an authorized administrator of Alabama Law Scholarly Commons. THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA SCHOOL OF LAW The Gettier Problem and Legal Proof Michael S. Pardo 16 Legal Theory (forthcoming 2010) This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1596709 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1596709 16 Legal Theory (forthcoming 2010) THE GETTIER PROBLEM AND LEGAL PROOF Michael S. Pardo∗ University of Alabama School of Law Abstract This article explores the relationships between legal proof and fundamental epistemic concepts such as knowledge and justification. A survey of the legal literature reveals a confusing array of seemingly inconsistent proposals and presuppositions regarding these relationships. This article makes two contributions. First, it reconciles a number of apparent inconsistencies and tensions in accounts of the epistemology of legal proof. Second, it argues that there is a deeper connection between knowledge and legal proof than is typically argued for or presupposed in the legal literature. This connection is illustrated through a discussion of the Gettier problem in epistemology. -
Gettier and the Problem of Induction by Ean Maloney
Gettier and the Problem of Induction by Ean Maloney Introduction (4) Either Jones owns a Ford, or Brown is in Fifty-four years have passed since Edmund Barcelona. Gettier’s short treatise undercut philosophers’ Let us ignore the fact that the “either…or” formulation complacent confidence in the justified true belief seems to neglect the possibility that Jones could own (JTB) definition of knowledge. Subsequent attempts a Ford and Brown could be in Boston, as we could to redeem, modify, or replace JTB have made easily reformulate (4) to account for this. Gettier tells progress towards these goals but are still inadequate. us that Smith is mistaken that Jones owns a Ford, but I propose that the reason for these deficiencies lies in in fact Brown is in Barcelona. an overestimation of the human capacity to possess The SJB cases reveal that the JTB model fails propositional knowledge. Accordingly, a theory of to account for “epistemic luck,” instances where a knowledge not subject to Gettier problems must conclusion is true for purely coincidental reasons assume a more limited scope of knowledge than not initially considered by the subject (or at least usually considered. Specifically, it is necessary to not believed to exist). These reasons in the SJB reconsider our implicit trust in the possibility and Cases are, respectively, that Smith has ten coins in accessibility of inductive knowledge. his pocket and that Brown is in Barcelona. Though the obvious option for amending the JTB model is Gettier’s Dilemma to explicitly exclude epistemically lucky cases from being considered instances of knowledge, this seems Though I will present several scenarios for 1 consideration in this paper, we ought to keep in a rather ad hoc approach. -
The Pragmatic Gettier: Brandom on Knowledge and Belief
The Pragmatic Gettier: Brandom on Knowledge and Belief MARÍA JOSÉ FRÁPOLLI §1. Gettier’s insight and its pragmatic1 reading ERE IS ONE OF THE DEFINITIONS of knowledge as justified true belief (JTB) that H Gettier famously defied (Gettier 1966, p. 121): (JTB) S knows that p iff (i) p is true, (ii) S believes that p, and (iii) S is justified in believing that p. His argument to defend that the definition is faulty rests on the following two assumptions and two examples. The assumptions are: (α) “… in that sense of ‘justified’ in which S’s being justified in believing P is a necessary condition of S’s knowing that P, it is possible for a person to be justified in believing a proposition that is in fact false” (loc. cit.), and 1 From my pragmatist perspective, in which I wholeheartedly endorse Wittgenstein’s slogan that meaning is use, and its Brandomian version, that semantics should answer to pragmatics, I consider the line between semantics and pragmatics fuzzy and theory–laden. If semantics answers to pragmatics, I cannot see how to draw a clear–cut distinction between force and semantic content. Differences in force should imply differences in content, and for this reason I do not make a big issue of the distinction. In most of what follows, semantics and pragmatics will refer to aspects of basically the same theoretical enterprise: that of individuating what is said in communicative action and, derivatively, of pinning down the contribution of concepts. This task requires bringing together aspects that are linguistically codified and others belonging to narrow and broad contexts. -
Brains and Barns : the Role of Context in Epistemic Attribution
University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2005 Brains and barns : the role of context in epistemic attribution. Julie M. Petty University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Petty, Julie M., "Brains and barns : the role of context in epistemic attribution." (2005). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 2387. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/2387 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BRAINS AND BARNS: THE ROLE OF CONTEXT IN EPISTEMIC ATTRIBUTION A Dissertation Presented by JULIE M. PETTY Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 2005 Department of Philosophy © Copyright by Julie M. Petty 2005 All Rights Reserved BRAINS AND BARNS: THE ROLE OF CONTEXT IN EPISTEMIC ATTRIBUTION A Dissertation Presented by JULIE M. PETTY Approved as to style and content by: *7 Fred Feldman, Chair '7 Edmund L. Gettier, Member r> - Phillip Bricker, Department Head Philosophy ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Fred Feldman, for the many, many years of excellent philosophical instruction and for his caring and personal support of my efforts to complete my doctorate. I also thank my committee members - Ed Gettier, Jonathan Schaffer, and Angelika Kratzer — for their time and their contributions to this work. -
Knowledge Before Gettier1
KNOWLEDGE BEFORE GETTIER1 Pierre Le Morvan Published (2017) in the BRITISH JOURNAL FOR THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 25(6): 1-23 According to a historical claim oft-repeated by contemporary epistemologists, the “traditional” conception of knowledge prevailed in Western philosophy prior to the publication in 1963 of Edmund’s Gettier’s famous three-page article “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” On this conception, knowledge consists of justified true belief. In this article, I critically consider evidence for and against this historical claim, and conclude with a puzzle concerning its widespread acceptance. KEYWORDS: Knowledge; Justified True Belief; Gettier “For much of the history of Western philosophy, the dominant account of knowledge was that knowledge is justified true belief. But in a short paper published in 1963, Edmund Gettier challenged this traditional account by offering a pair of hypothetical counter-examples.” Machery et al. (2015, 1) 1 For very helpful and constructive comments on earlier drafts, I wish to thank Katherine Le Morvan, Stephen Hetherington, two anonymous referees of this journal and its editor. 2 1. Introduction You have probably heard this story. For several decades, many epistemologists have retold it in their books, articles, and classrooms. Composed of two key claims, it runs as follows. In the ages prior to 1963 reigned the “traditional” (or “standard” or “classical”) conception or analysis of knowledge according to which justified true belief is both necessary and sufficient for knowing that p. In 1963, however, Edmund Gettier, with two famous counter-examples, overturned this conception, or at least seriously challenged it, and epistemology has never been the same.