Clark-Doane Flashcards
What is the benacerraf problem?
How do we know facts about things that we can’t casually interact with in any normal ways?
How can we have knowledge about these things that we don’t think we casually interact with, so they can’t cause us to have this knowledge in an obvious way?
We have knowledge about things that we seemingly have a connection to, so how do we know them?
What is an example of a type of belief, or a subject matter, that we didn’t discuss in class that one might think the benaceraff problem is a problem for?
Freddy and Frod see a sunset, and both agree that it’s a very beautiful sunset. But how do they actually know that the sunset they’re seeing is beuatiful? They don’t casually interact with the sunset, so how do they know that it’s beautiful? If we don’t think we casually interact with the beauty of the sunset, how do we have this knowledge in an obvious way?
Why does Clark-Doane think that this problem is not really a problem?
Benacerraf problem is about the reliability of our beliefs (We can’t know our beliefs are reliable because we can’t causally interact with them)
But, Clark-Doane thinks that we can have reliable beliefs so long as they are safe and sensitive.
What is safety?
S’s belief formed via method M is safe iff there is no close possible world in which M gives S false belief.
- the belief could have easily been false
- An unreliable method (i.e., guessing) won’t be safe
- A method may be true in this world but not in another nearby possible world, this would not be a safe method
What is sensitivity?
S beieves that p, looks at the closest nearby possible world in which p is false, if S does not believe p in that world, S’s belief is sensitive; if S does believe p in that world, then S’s belief is insensitive
What is an example of belief that is safe but not sensitive?
I am not living in a simulation
Belief is safe by trusting our perception
But in a nearby possible world where we are living in a simulation, we will still believe that we are not living in a simulation, so our belief is insensitive.
What is an example of a belief that is sensitive but not safe?
Tess believes that cacti are pokey. However, in a nearby world where cacti are not pokey, Tess does not believe that cacti are pokey. But, Tess believes that cacti are pokey by guessing that they are so. Tess could have easily guessed wrong, so her method could have easily given her false beliefs.
In this example, Tess’s belief is sensitive because in the nearby possible world in which cacti were not pokey, Tess no longer believed that they are pokey. However, Tess’s belief is not safe because she believes that cacti are pokey because she guessed, and guessing is not a reliable method because in a nearby possible world she could have easily guessed wrong.
What is an example of a belief that is both safe and sensitive?
Mac believes that the temperature outside is 60 degrees fahrenheit. She believes this via her method of using a thermometer. In a close possible world, where the temperature is now 61 degrees fahrenheit, Mac’s method of using a thermometer is still reliable. And, consequently, in this nearby world where the temperature is not 60 degrees, Mac no longer believes that the temperature is 60 degrees.
This belief is safe because in a nearby possible world Mac’s method of using a thermostat still provides her with true beliefs. This belief is sensitive because in a nearby possible world in which the temperature is not 60 degrees fahrenheit, Mac no longer believes that the temperature is 60 degrees fahrenheit.
What is an example of a belief that is neither safe nor sensitive?
Lydia believes that the temperature outside is 60 degrees fahrenheit because she guessed and said that it feels like 60 degrees fahrenheit. In a nearby possible world, where it is not 60 degrees fahrenheit, Lydia still believes that it is 60 degrees fahrenheit.
Lydia’s belief is not safe because guessing is not a reliable method, and she could have easily guessed wrong and no longer had a true belief in a nearby possible world. Her belief is not sensitive because in a nearby possible world where the temperature is not 60 degrees fahrenheit, Lydia still believes that the temperature is 60 degrees fahrenheit.
What is clark-doane’s argument?
- We can defeat our beliefs in mathematics (i.e., 2+2=4) or our beliefs in morality (i.e., murder is wrong) by showing that we could have easily had falsse beliefs on these topics
AKA, we could defeat these beliefs by showing that they are unsafe - If we could have easily had false beliefs on these topics, then we would either have totally different beliefs than we do (i.e., 2+2=5, or murder is totally fine) or it could easily have been the case that the facts are not different than what we believe (I.e., it could easily be that 2+2 does not equal 4 or that murder is not wrong)
- We could not have easily had different moral/mathematical beliefs than we do
- The moral/mathematical facts could not have easily been different (assumption iii)
- Another way to defeat our moral/mathematical belief is to show that, were the moral/mathematical facrts different, we would not have true beliefs about those facts
AKA show that these beliefs are insensitive - The moral/mathematical facts can’t be different than they are (assumption iii)
- So, were the facts different, we would have true moral beliefs
- There are no other ways to defeat our moral/mathematical beliefs
- Thus, the benaceraff problem and debunking arguments do not defeat our mathematical/moral beliefs
