Epistemology

Question 1

Analytic

Answer 1

A proposition that is true in meaning of the words
Eg: A bachelor is an unmarried man, a square has 4 sides

Question 2

Synthetic

Answer 2

A proposition that is not analytic, but true or false based on how the world is
Eg: Snow is white, the Eiffel tower is in Paris

Question 3

Necessary

Answer 3

A proposition which is always true as it could not have been otherwise
Eg To read an essay I need to know how to read, All bachelors are unmarried

Question 4

Contingent

Answer 4

A contingent truth is a propostion that could either be true or false, a state of affairs that may or may not be true based on the context
Eg The cat is black, It is raining

Question 5

A priori

Answer 5

Knowledge that doesn’t require experience to be known to be true or false

Question 6

A posteriori

Answer 6

Reasoning or knowledge which can only be known to be true or false through sense

Question 7

Matters of fact

Answer 7

Contingent truths that only deal with experience and can be denied coherently.
Eg It is snowing

Question 8

Relation of Ideas

Answer 8

Truths that can be known independently from experience and are intuitivly and demonstrably certain
Eg 2+2=4

Question 9

Humes Fork

Answer 9

A way of categorising propositional knowledge claims into two key branches - matters of fact and relation of ideas. All truth-apt statements must be one of these

Question 10

Valid vs invalid argument

Answer 10

A valid argument is a deductive argument where all the premises entail the conclusion, whereas an invalid argument does not

Question 11

Inductive vs deductive argument

Answer 11

An inductive argument is one in which if all of the premises are true then the conclusion is unlikely to be false, whereas a deductive argument is one where if all the premises are true the conclusion cannot be false.

Question 12

Problem with the Justified true belief

Answer 12

“Lucky true belief”

Question 13

Necessary condition

Answer 13

One that must be true for another condition to occur
e.g sitting the exam is a necessary condition for passing the exam

Question 14

Sufficient condition

Answer 14

One that, if true, guarantees a certain outcome
E.g: Suppose it is true that it is both raining and sunny. This is a sufficient condition for “it is raining” to be true.

Question 15

3 types of knowledge

Answer 15

Ability (how)
Acquintance (of)
Propositional (that)

Question 16

Example of belief not being necessary for knowedge

Answer 16

Talented but self-doubting math student example

Question 17

Example of justification not being necessary for knowledge

Answer 17

Luckily guessing the weather tommorow