Basic Sources of Knowledge and Justification: Robert Audi Flashcards
What are 4 things classically thought to be the sources of knowledge?
Perception, memory, consciousness and reason
What do we mean when we say that something is a source of knowledge?
It is something in the life of the knower that yields beliefs constituting knowledge.
For example, my perception of the heat from the oven yields the belief that it (the oven) is on.
My visual perception of the wife sitting next to me in the car yields the belief that she (my wife) is sitting next to me in the car.
Reason tell me that if A is taller than B and B is taller than C then A is taller than C.
And this yields the belief that A is taller than C.
My memory tells me that I was a graduate student at USC. And that memory yields that belief that I was.
My memory tells me that I have 3 children. And that memory yields the belief that I have 3 children.
I am conscious of an ache in my belly right now. And that yields the belief that my belly aches.
What is it to call a source of knowledge or justification “basic”?
A source of knowledge is basic iff it does not depend on some other source of knowledge.
What makes perception, e.g., seeing or hearing, a basic source for knowledge or justification?
It yields knowledge without relying on any other source.
I hear my son’s voice. That is enough for me to believe and know that my son is speaking to me.
I see that it is sunny out right now. That is enough for me to believe and know that it is sunny out now.
On the bottom of p. 74, Audi argues that while memory is an essential source of knowledge, it is not a basic source. What does this mean? What is the argument?
It is essential in the sense that knowledge of any kind would be impossible without it.
I know that the Sun rises in the east. But, that is only because I remember that it has always risen in the east in the past.
I know that A is taller than C from my reasoning. But that is only because I remember that A is taller than B and B is taller than C.
I know that I am on the CSUSB campus right now. But, that is only because I remember a whole bunch of stuff that happened this morning.
Upon seeing my wife, I can know that she is a human being. But, that is only because I remember what human beings are. I have in memory the information necessary for me to detect human beings.
The reason memory is not really basic is that in order to know things from memory, I must have known it previously. But then, there was some other source for that piece of knowledge.
For instance, from memory, I know that the sun rises from the east. But that is because I knew it and put it into memory. Where did the original knowledge come from? It cannot be memory.
What is the sense in which reason is a basic source of knowledge?
It does not depend on any other source.
Reason yields the belief that if all A’s are B’s and all B’s are C’s then all A’s are C’s.
This does not rely on any other source for knowledge.
Testimony is different from the other basic sources of knowledge in 4 ways. The first way is that one cannot check the reliability of a basic source without relying on that very source. Testimony is not like that. Explain.
My visual perception tells me that grass is green.
The only way to check is by visually checking grass.
My wife’s testimony that grass is green can be checked in some other way.
It can be check my visual perception.
She says it is green. But let me double check my looking at grass myself.
The LA times reports that Kobe’s rotator cuff is torn.
Let me go to get the MRI and check myself.
The second way is that the knowledge of any kind is impossible without the basic sources of knowledge. Testimony is not like that. Explain.
My wife reports that grass is green. How does she know? She is relying on someone else who has seen grass or she has seen grass herself.
Someone has to have seen grass. Then, based on that, we can generative testimony to that effect.
The third way is that testimonially based beliefs pass through the will. The basic sources do not. Explain.
The person giving the testimony decides what she or he will represent.
My wife testifies that grass is green because she has decided to represent grass as being green.
Of course, she could have chosen not to make this testimony.
Perception is not like this.
When I open my grass and look at grass, the visual perception of it automatically tells me that grass is green.
Also, when reason automatically tells me that if A is taller than B and B is taller than C then A is taller than C
A source difference is that acquiring testimonially based beliefs require interpreting the meanings of what is being said by the person giving the testimony. This is not so with the basic sources of knowledge. Explain.
Pierre’s testimony that “Londres est jolie” gives rise to no belief because I don’t speak French.
Reading a French newspaper will not cause a whole of beliefs. Without understanding or interpreting the words, the words cause no beliefs.
This is not so with the basic sources of knowledge.
Seeing that London is pretty will automatically cause everyone to believe that it is pretty.
Reason tells everyone, American, French and Chinese that if A is taller than B and B is talker than C then A is taller than C.
What does it mean to say that the basic sources of knowledge are epistemically autonomous?
These sources do not rely on any other source.
Reason alone can yield knowledge.
Perception alone can yield knowledge
Consciousness alone can yield knowledge.
