Epistemology

Question 1

Epistemology is…

Answer 1

A Theory of Knowledge

Question 2

Epistemology studies…

Answer 2

1) Mechanisms of cognition

2) Definition of knowledge

2) What does it mean to “know” something?

Question 3

What is KNOWLEDGE in Epistemology?

Answer 3

Knowing is a mental state!
To know something it is necessary to have beliefs.

However, is believing in something sufficient for knowledge???

Question 4

Knowledge properties:

Answer 4

1) An individual has to have a BELIEF
2) To know, your BELIEF has to be TRUE
3) For your BELIEF to be TRUE, there has to be a JUSTIFICATION (evidence)

P has a belief T
T is true
P is justified in believing T

Question 5

What is Scepticism?

Answer 5

Challenge to the study of human knowledge.

Sceptics believe that our knowledge of reality is limited. Moreover, we lack proper justification for our beliefs.

Question 6

Four Arguments are…

Answer 6

1) Plato’s Cave Analogy
2) Unreliability of the Senses
3) Dreaming
4) Evil Demon Argument

Question 7

Plato’s Cave Analogy is…

Answer 7

Three prisoners see shadows as a reality.

1) We should take into account that our perceptions can affect how we see “reality” (a mere shadow of it)

2) Judgement or beliefs derived from our senses are UNRELIABLE

Question 8

Unreliability of Senses Argument is…

Answer 8

There are sense-related experiences that are illusions, meaning that these experiences don’t reflect reality.

1) Does a pencil bend when it is submerged? How can we tell? No senses can prove it.

2) Paintings as Illusions

3) The table (rectangle by definition) looks different from each angle (multiple experiences unreliability)

Question 9

JTB is…

Answer 9

Justified True Belief

Question 10

Rationalists and Empirists

Answer 10

R: Rational approach: At least some things can be known without receiving information from our senses.

E: “Every knowledge comes from our senses”

The Child Case

Question 11

Single experiences, as well as multiple experiences (in the case of Senses’ Unreliability), are…

Answer 11

Unreliable and unstable

Question 12

Skepticism: The Dream Argument

Answer 12

1) When dreaming, one cannot tell one is dreaming. Therefore, we might be in a dream, unaware of this.

2) Attacks sensory experience

Question 13

Scepticism: The Evil Demon Argument (Rene Descartes)

Answer 13

The omnipotent but malevolent creature creates an illusion for us to live in. (The Matrix, The Brain in the Vat = virtual reality that produces our mental states)

In that case, even a priori truths could be illusory.

Question 14

Why senses can be reliable?

Answer 14

Such sort of claims appeal to memory.

However, memory is notoriously unreliable (The Supermarket Experiment) and can be reconstructed.

Question 15

What are some responses to Scepticism?

Answer 15

1) If we know nothing and can’t be certain about our knowledge, then Scepticism is FALSE

2) Rene Descartes(a Rationalist): “Cogito ergo sum”=”I think, therefore, I am”

If I am doubting my beliefs, I must exist.
(I am a thinking thing)

Question 16

Response to Skepticism: What is a Representative Realism?

Answer 16

John Locke: We perceive “inner pictures” caused by external objects (So we’re passive recipients of sensations)

It explains ILLUSIONS since the world we see is not certain, but probable.

HOWEVER, there are some problems with it. Babies do have innate qualities (sense of justice, for instance)

Question 17

Primary and Secondary Qualities (John Locke)

Answer 17

Primary - in object:
1) shape; 2) mass; 3) texture; 4) volume

Secondary - in mind:
1) color (colorblindness); 2) smell; 3) taste

Therefore, primary qualities act on our senses and our minds combine both to create a sensation.

Question 18

Response to Skepticism: What are the aspects of Idealism? (George Berkeley)

Answer 18

1) Materialistic things are “imaginary”
2) Our experience is based on the mental representations

Therefore, the external world doesn’t exist, and objects exist only when we see them

Berkeley: “To be is to be perceived”

Question 19

What does Idealism fail to explain?

Answer 19

1) Dreams and Illusions (unpredictable, unsystematic)

2) Solipsism - all that exists is my mind - no other people (it doesn’t work, we presuppose the existence of other people)

3)Therefore, shame and embarrassment would be absurd = ABSURDITY

Question 20

Response to Scepticism: Casual Realism

Answer 20

1) EVOLUTIONARY ASSUMPTION: The role of the senses is to navigate us through the environment (we acquire beliefs through the senses)

Therefore, EXTERNAL WORLD EXISTS

OBJECTION: There is no reason that the selection should track TRUE beliefs, but not the ADVANTAGEOUS ones.

Question 21

What are other types of problems related to Casual Realism? (Illusions, delusions)

Answer 21

1) Positive illusions - enhance health prospects
2) Clinical delusions - explain unusual experiences due to brain damage
3) Self-deception - hides undesirable truths
4) Memory gaps that are filled in by false memories
5) Religious beliefs - they support a sense of community

Question 22

What is important about these Theories? (Casual Realism, Idealism, Representative Realism?)

Answer 22

They do not refute Skepticism