Scepticism Lecture Notes

Sceptical Scenario: coherent; incompatible w/ most of our beliefs; we would have the same beliefs we in fact do if it obtained.

Should we care? (James Pryor) Nozick's experience machine!

A problem in epistemology? Do sceptical arguments suggest that we should modify our standards + conception of knowledge?

The Closure Argument

1)You cannot know that you are not a handless BIV.

2) If you can know you have hands, you can know you are not a BIV.

3) Therefore, you cannot know you have hands.

Rests on the principle of cloure: If S knows P, and Q obviously follows, then S can know Q.

So, if one knows an ordinary common sense proposition, it follows they know that sceptical hypothesis is false; but because cannot know the falsity of SH, folllows cannot know the truth of the common sense proposition.

One option is to reverse this... you do know you have hands, therefore do know…