Introduction and Doubt and Descartes Flashcards
Introduction to Epistemology and Metaphysics (20 cards)
What are the two main areas of philosophy covered in this course?
Epistemology, which is the theory of knowledge, and metaphysics, which explores the basic structure or nature of reality.
What is the overarching question combining epistemology and metaphysics?
What can we know of what there is? This links our understanding of reality (metaphysics) with what we can claim to know about it (epistemology).
What kind of knowledge is emphasized in this course?
The course focuses on ‘knowing that’—propositional knowledge—rather than ‘knowing how’ or practical knowledge.
What are some examples of ‘knowing that’ discussed in Lecture 1?
Examples include knowing that the Earth is round, London is the capital of England, water is H₂O, and that 2+2=4.
What are the three conditions of knowledge in the classic JTB model?
Justified True Belief: you must believe something, it must be true, and you must have good justification or reasons for the belief.
Why isn’t JTB (Justified True Belief) always sufficient for knowledge?
Because of Gettier problems—cases where someone has a justified true belief, but their belief is true due to luck, not knowledge.
What sources of knowledge were mentioned in the first lecture?
Experience, observation, authority, reason, and necessity.
Why is the course narrowing its focus to perception?
To make things more manageable and to closely examine whether our senses are reliable sources of knowledge about the external world.
How does the course approach building knowledge?
It asks whether we build knowledge from the ground up, and what foundational beliefs or perceptions support our worldview.
What challenge does focusing on ‘knowing that’ raise?
It may lead us to overvalue truth as the primary goal of knowledge, neglecting other important aspects like practical understanding or knowing how.
What is Descartes’ goal in the First Meditation?
To demolish all of his previous beliefs and find a firm foundation for knowledge by doubting everything that can be doubted.
What is Descartes’ method for testing knowledge?
Methodological scepticism: systematically doubting all beliefs to determine which, if any, are absolutely certain.
Why does Descartes question the reliability of the senses?
Because they have deceived him in the past, and it is unwise to fully trust something that has been deceptive even once.
What is the dreaming argument in Descartes’ doubt?
It highlights that we often dream experiences that feel real, so we cannot be certain we are awake—casting doubt on all sensory experiences.
Why isn’t the dreaming argument sufficient for total doubt?
Because it still assumes there is something real being copied; it doesn’t make us doubt necessary truths like math.
What is the Evil Demon hypothesis?
Descartes imagines a powerful demon deceiving him about everything—including logic, math, and sensory experience—to push doubt to the extreme.
Why does Descartes introduce the Evil Demon?
To create a scenario where even the most basic beliefs, including mathematical truths, could be false, ensuring radical scepticism.
What is the point of Descartes’ radical doubt?
It is not an end in itself, but a way to reach certainty by identifying beliefs that cannot be doubted.
What is left after Descartes completes his demolition of beliefs?
Radical doubt: he cannot trust any of his experiences or reasoning, leaving him with nothing certain—yet this sets the stage for rebuilding knowledge.
What does Descartes promise to do next?
To find something that even the Evil Demon could not deceive him about, starting the reconstruction of knowledge on a firm foundation.
