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Definition of Knowledge. To say that you know X means: you believe X to be true there is some reason or justification (warrant) for thinking that X is true X is, in fact, true Gettier problem: you could have a warranted true belief and still not know. E. Gettier (1927- ).
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Definition of Knowledge To say that you know X means: • you believe X to be true • there is some reason or justification (warrant) for thinking that X is true • X is, in fact, true • Gettier problem: you could have a warranted true belief and still not know E. Gettier (1927- )
Theories of Truth • Correspondence: truth is an objective relation between beliefs and extramental reality (i.e., facts) • Objection: we cannot access extramental reality • Coherence: a proposition or belief is true if it is coherent with other accepted beliefs • Objection: coherent systems of intersubjectively accepted beliefs could still be false • Pragmatic: if acting on a belief satisfies our expectations—that is, if it works—it is true • Objections: (a) justified beliefs are not necessarily true; (b) this make all truths relative; (c) beliefs are not true because they “work”; they work because they are true