Introduction to Philosophy Lecture 8 Epistemology #1

1. Introduction to PhilosophyLecture 8Epistemology #1 By David Kelsey

2. Epistemology • Epistemology: • the theory of knowledge. • analyzes concepts such as belief, truth, knowledge, justification and opinion. • Some epistemological questions include: • What is knowledge? • Which of my beliefs do I know? • How do I know them?

3. Defining Knowledge • Knowledge: is often contrasted with mere opinion or mere belief. • Beliefs without knowledge: But knowledge is more than just belief for I can have beliefs about all sorts of things without knowing them. • True Belief: so for a belief to count as knowledge the belief must be true.

4. Knowledge and justification • Knowledge: is also more than mere true belief. • Justified beliefs: to count as knowledge, my true beliefs must be justified. • Justification

5. Knowledge as JTB • Knowledge as JTB: we might try to define knowledge as justified true belief then. • Thus, S knows that p if and only if: • S believes that p and • P is true and • S’s belief that p is justified • Individually Necessary: Each of these three conditions is necessary for S to know that p. • Jointly sufficient: together the 3 conditions are jointly sufficient for S to know that p.

6. Gettier & Knowledge • Edmund Gettier • Born in 1927 • Philosophy professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst since 1967 • In his article Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Gettier argues that something’s being justified true belief is not a sufficient condition for it’s being knowledge. • Thus, he argues that one can have a justified true belief and yet not have knowledge. • Gettier provides two counterexamples to prove his point.

7. Smith, the job &10 coins • Smith, the job & 10 coins: • Smith believes that Jones is the man who will get the job and Jones has 10 coins in his pocket. • What is Smith’s justification for this belief? • So Smith infers that it is true that The man who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket. • What is Smith’s justification for this belief? • But Smith gets the job & he has 10 coins in his pocket • So Smith has JTB without knowledge!

8. The Ford &Barcelona • Now Smith gains evidence for the proposition: • That Jones owns a Ford (‘F’) • What’s Smith’s justification for this belief • So Smith Infers: Either Jones owns a Ford or Brown is in Barcelona. (‘A’) • What is Smith’s justification for this belief? • But Jones doesn’t own a Ford and Brown is in Barcelona • So Smith has JTB without knowledge again

9. Replies to Gettier • Denying the assumptions: • He assumes that: • 1. It is possible for a person to be justified in believing a proposition that is false • 2. Closure: for any proposition P, if S is justified in believing P and • P entails Q & • S deduces Q from P & • S accepts Q as a result of this deduction, then • S is justified in believing Q. • Example: • Snowing so Freezing

10. Denying Closure • Denying closure: • We could deny Closure by holding an Externalist theory of justification. • For the Externalist, justification comes not from an inner mental state at all. Instead, it is something external to your mind which confers justification on a belief. • An Example: • Reliabilism: a belief is justified if it is formed through a reliable belief forming process

11. More replies to Gettier • Accepting the counterexamples: We might also reply to Gettier by accepting his counterexamples to the traditional definition of knowledge. • Finding another analysis: In this case we are then out to find a more adequate analysis of KNOWLEDGE. • Some examples: • Infallible justification • No false steps • No defeaters

12. Last thoughts on defining knowledge • What Gettier shows is that there is a bigger problem with conceptual analysis • A possible reply: • concepts like knowledge have a graded nature