What is knowledge summary

?
  • Created by: ZP070301
  • Created on: 11-10-17 10:29
View mindmap
  • What is knowledge?
    • JTB
      • JTB is the theory that justified true belief is knowledge.
        • S knows that P if and only if 1. S believes that P 2.P is true 3.S is justified in beliving that P
      • Individually necessary
        • Truth
          • This condition says that in order for you to know something, it must be true.
            • Cavewoman
              • According to the correspondence theory the cavewoman didn't know the world was flate because it never was flat.
              • According to the coherence theory she did know that the world was flat, regardless that it wasn't because that was the common web of belief at the time.
        • Justification
          • John can tell the day of the week for any date you give him, he has no was of explaining how he does it, but he is always right so most people would say he knows.
        • Belief
          • Plato says you can't claim you know it, unless you believe it. But many philosophers disagree and say that since knowledge is infallible and belief is fallible, they are mutually incompatible.
      • Jointly sufficient
        • JTB is not enough to be considered as knowledge, on the basis of the Gettier examples which prove that the subject had JTB but no knowledge.
      • JTB vs RTB
        • Reliabilism
          • Knowledge is a true belief that is produced by a reliable process.
            • Doesn't need to be 100% accurate as long as it is likely to deliver the truth.
          • Reliabilsm copes poorly with Gettier. Take Brown in Barcelona as an example.
            • First part of the preposition is reliably formed but the second isn't. But since the proposition is disjunctive, reliabilsm would say that Smith has knowledge. But the unreliably formed belief turns out to be the true one.
              • A different approach to this is assuming that the original proposition was formed on a false belief therefore it is not knowledge.
          • Criticisms
            • What makes a process reliable is very subjective.
              • Goldman says a reliable process is one where you are able to distinguish between the truth and other relevant possibilities.
                • Barney would never have considered that he was in fake barn county > unreliable process > not knowledge.
            • Depending on how you describe a situation it can change whether you think the process was reliable of not
            • Responses
              • Sensitivity condition
                • If P were false, S would not believe that P.
                  • Doesn't work for Smithand Jones because even if Smith had 12 coins in his pocket a) he would have got the job b)he would have believed that P
            • Lottery problem, the chances of winning the lottery are 0.0000001% so RTB says that you know you lost because you do not need to be 100% sure and here you are 99.999999% sure. But you can't know you've lost until you check the numbers of the winning ticket.
        • According to JTB John the date wouldn't know but RTB says he would know
        • RTB is better than JTB because it accounts for animals having knowledge because they have reliable belief forming processes such as hearing and seeing.
        • Reliabilsm is too circular so JTB is better
    • Gettier
      • Smith and Jones
        • Smith belives that Jones will get the job and Jones has 10 coins in his pocket.So he belives the man who will get the job has 10 coins in his pocket. Finally Smith gets the jobs and he also has 10 coins in his pocket, therefore his proposition was true but did he know it?
      • Brown in Barcelona
        • Smith  has seen Jones driving a Ford and takes a guess that Brown is in Barcelona. Therfore he belives that either Jones owns a ford or Brown is in Barcelona. He has reason to belive a but not b but it turns out b is true and a is false, so p is true but did he know it?
      • Fake Barns
        • Barney is driving through bake barn county but he doesnt know this. He thinks he can see a barn, in fact he is looking at the only real barn around, but does he know he is looking at a barn?
    • Infallibilism
      • The theory that we can only count as knowledge, the things we cannot rationally doubt.
        • You can only have knowledge of your own mind and sensations not the external world.
          • A belief is something that can be doubted knowledge is something that cannot be doubted.
        • Descartes doubted all of his beliefs in order to find out what he really knew.
          • He concluded that he knows he exists, because it cannot be rationally doubted, because someone would have to do the doubting
      • You are in your bedroom and you can hear an engine like noise.
        • You know that you are experiencing a noise
        • You believe it is the sound of an engine.
      • Advantages
        • Knowledge is absolutely certain
      • Disadvantages
        • Definition may be too extreme, hold little connection with the word know.
          • Is infallibilism explaining what knowledge should be rather than what it is
    • No false lemmas (beliefs)
      • JTBN (n=no false lemmas)
        • the theory has been modified to deal with hidden assumptions.
          • Looking at a broken clock which happens to be telling the right time.
            • The hidden assumption is that you assumed the clock was working.
      • Good with Gettier because all his cases rely on a false initial belief. Such as Jones owns a ford or Barny isn't in fake barn county or Smith will get the job.
        • Doesn't cope well with all cases
          • You see two apples in the fruit bowl, believe there are two apples in the kitchen. The ones you saw were fake but there are two apples in the fridge therefore you belief was true.
            • There is no false lemma
              • William Lycan says this case and fake barn style cases are knowledge.
    • Reliabilism
      • Knowledge is a true belief that is produced by a reliable process.
        • Doesn't need to be 100% accurate as long as it is likely to deliver the truth.
      • Reliabilsm copes poorly with Gettier. Take Brown in Barcelona as an example.
        • First part of the preposition is reliably formed but the second isn't. But since the proposition is disjunctive, reliabilsm would say that Smith has knowledge. But the unreliably formed belief turns out to be the true one.
          • A different approach to this is assuming that the original proposition was formed on a false belief therefore it is not knowledge.
      • Criticisms
        • What makes a process reliable is very subjective.
          • Goldman says a reliable process is one where you are able to distinguish between the truth and other relevant possibilities.
            • Barney would never have considered that he was in fake barn county > unreliable process > not knowledge.
        • Depending on how you describe a situation it can change whether you think the process was reliable of not
        • Responses
          • Sensitivity condition
            • If P were false, S would not believe that P.
              • Doesn't work for Smithand Jones because even if Smith had 12 coins in his pocket a) he would have got the job b)he would have believed that P
        • Lottery problem, the chances of winning the lottery are 0.0000001% so RTB says that you know you lost because you do not need to be 100% sure and here you are 99.999999% sure. But you can't know you've lost until you check the numbers of the winning ticket.
    • Virtue Epistemology
      • Knowledge is a true belief bought about but epistemic virtues. Linda says 'Knowledge is a state of true belief that arises out of acts of intellectual virtue.
      • Sosa's triple A rating
        • An accurate belief is one that is true
        • An adroit belief is one that is formed by an intellectual virtue
          • The main intellectual virtues are: conscientiousness, objectivity, intellectual humility, perceptiveness, truthfulness, wisdom
            • It is possible to have the virtues in excess
        • An apt belief is one that is accurate because it is adroit.
        • Archer example
          • An accurate shot will hit the target, An adroit shot is a skillful one, an apt shot is one that is accurate and it is accurate because it is adroit.
      • VE deals well with Gettier because Gettiers subjects are right because of luck not an intellectual virtue.
        • Smiths belief was true but it was a coincidence so it wasn't apt therefore it is not knowledge.
        • Sosa says humans have two types of knowledge: animal and reflective- they are able to reflect on their own claims to know.
          • Barney's belief was accurate apt and adroit but we wouldn't say he knew it
            • He cannot asses how apt the belief was therefore it is not reflective (human) knowledge, therefore he didn't know.
      • Critics say the theory tries to explore under what conditions a persona is able to assert they have knowledge, rather than exploring whether a person knows X or Y.
    • Types of knowledge
      • Ability = knowing how
      • Acquainance = knowing of
      • Propositional = knowing that
    • Knowldge first epistemology
      • Linda says there is no point defining knowledge because any formula you think of there is always a counter example

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Philosophy resources:

See all Philosophy resources »See all Introduction to knowledge resources »