epistemology- what is knowlege

Question 1

25 mark plan:
how should propositional knowledge be defined ?
is knowledge the same thing as JTB?
Assess the tripartite definition of knowledge.

Answer 1

Intro: sosas virtue epistemology correct
definition of propsitional knowledge

para 1: JTB - gutter case 1

para 2: JTB no false lemmas criticism of gutter case

response: fake barn county

para 4: Sosa avoids problems bcos not apt!

conclusion: Sosa avoids all problems + correct

Question 2

what is epistemology

Answer 2

Epistemology = theory of knowledge. study of philosophical problems underlying theories of knowledge.

Question 3

what are the 3 types of traditional knowledge

Answer 3

-ability
-acquaintance
-propositional

Question 4

ability knowledge meaning and example

Answer 4

knowledge how
“I know how to ride a bike”

Question 5

acquaintance meaning and example

Answer 5

knowledge of
“I know Fred well”

Question 6

propositional knowledge meaning and example

Answer 6

knowledge that
“I know Paris is the capital city of France”

Question 7

what is the tripartite definition of knowledge?

Answer 7

JUSTIFIED TRUE BELIEF

Question 8

who gave the tripartite definition of knowledge

Answer 8

Plato

Question 9

5 definitions of knowledge

Answer 9

1. JTB
2. JTB + no false lammas
3. Reliablism
4. virtues epistemology
5. Infallibilism

Question 10

Gettier case one

Answer 10

-smith + Jones are interviewing for the same job
-smith hears the interviewer say “I’m going to give Jones the Job”
-Smith also sees Jones count 10 coins from his pocket.
-Smith thus forms the belief that “the man who will get the Job has 10 coins in his pocket”
-But smith gets the Job, not jones
-and by coininsidence smith also has 10 coins in his pocket

Question 11

Gettier case two

Answer 11

Brown in Barcelona
Smith has evidence that his friend Jones owns a ford. smith believes that jones owns a ford. smith has another friend brown. he has no evidence of mr brown’s whereabouts, but on the strength of his first belief forms a new disunctive belief that jones owns a ford or brown is in barcelona. This new belief is justified as smith has no reason to doubt the first part.
It turns out that jones no longer owns a car but by weird coinsidence brown unbeknown to smith was in barcelona.

Question 12

JTB + no false lemmas in structure

Answer 12

-strengthens tripartite defintion
it says that james has knowledge of P if:
-P is true
-James believs that P
James belief is justified
James did not interfere that P from anything else.

Question 13

what is JTB + no false lemmas explained

Answer 13

strengthens tripartite defintion
Adds extra condition to tri defintion. knowledge is JTB + that it has not infered from anything else (a false lemma)
it avoids gettier problem.

Question 14

what is the fake barn county Goldman (problem)

Answer 14

G’s example:
Henry is driving through the country side in barn county + he looks into a field, and sees what he looks exactly like a barn. He forms the belief “there is a barn in the field”. He is correct that there is a barn in the field, + the thing he is looking at is indeed a barn. However he is unaware that in barn county, may farmers construct fake barns- facades which look like real barns when viewed from the road, but are in fact just two-dimensional pictures. Henry got lucky in that he viewed the only real barns miles around.

Question 15

who created fake barn county

Answer 15

Goldman

Question 16

Infallibilism response to gettiers argument

Answer 16

the response to Gettier’s arguement that JTB is not sufficient knowlege, it focuses on strengthening the ‘truth’ condition. Is the theory that we should only count as knowlege as those things we cannot rationally doubt. e.g cannot rationally doubt you exist.

Question 17

reliabilism summary

Answer 17

R defintion of knowlege gets rid of the ‘justification’ condition + instead replaces it with the conditions that the true belief must be formed via some generally reliable method.

= knowlege is true belief which was arrived through a reliable process. This can be written K=T+B+R where R replaces justification which may not have been obtained through a reliable method.

Question 18

reliabilism in structure

Answer 18

S has knowlege if and only if:
-P is true
-S believes that P
-S’s belief that P was arrived at through a reliable method.

Question 19

virtue epistemology summary

Answer 19

All common VE defintions of knowledge is a link between a belief + intellectual virtues. IV are somewhat analogus to sort of moral virtues considered with moral good, IV are about epistemic good. E.g an intellectually virtuous person would have traits such as being rational, caring about whats true + good memory.

Question 20

sosas virtue epistemology summary

Answer 20

P is true
James believes that P
JAmes true belief that P is a result of james exercising his intellectual virtues.
S illustrates this using archery analogy. Has three properties; Accurate, Adroit, Apt.
Aptnes differentiates sosas understanding of knowledge from

Question 21

criticism of sodas virtue epistemology

Answer 21

critism- Zagzebski. for something to qaulify as knowlege the belief must be true as a direct consequence of the believer exercising their intellectual virtues - must be apt. It provides a link between truth + 3rd condition that rules out gettier style situations where belief only true as result of luck.

Question 22

sodas response to criticism by zagzebski

Answer 22

Fake barn county- SVE could correctly say henry’s belief “there’s a barn” would not qualify as knowlege- despite being true + formed by a reliable method- because its not apt. Yes belief is accurate + adriot but only formed the true belief as a result of luck not because he used intellectual virtues. suggests barney does not have a form of knowledge which he terms animal knowledge.

Question 23

what’s infallibilist definition of knowledge

Answer 23

for a belief to count as knowledge, it must be justified in such way that it is certain.
justification must be such that it cannot be doubted.
basically tripartite def of knowledge but stronger understanding of “justification”.

Question 24

infallibism in relation to smith and Jone gutter case 1

Answer 24

smiths belief “the man who will get the job has 10 coins in his pocket” doesn’t count of knowledge because justification doesn’t guarantee certainty. smith could’ve misheard the interviewer e.g. smith may even be a brain in a vat and jones doesn’t exist - these scenarios raise possibility of doubt so smiths belief couldn’t count of knowledge.

Question 25

what’s the response to infallibilism?

Answer 25

too strict!
although correctly proves gutter cases do not count of knowledge, infantilism says pretty much everything doesn’t count of knowledge

Question 26

infallibism example to explain the criticism (Paris)

Answer 26

you may think your memory of various maps and internet searches + general knowledge justifies the belief Paris is capital.. but I would argue u might of misremembered or looked at map wrong or ur dreaming or brain in a vat. so basic knowledge can all be doubted. (Descartes demonstrates this in 3 waves of doubt)

• if infallibism if true, then I do not know “Paris is the capital of France”
  -but I do know “Paris is the capital of France”
  -therefore infallibism is false.