Epistemology Flashcards
Epistemology is…
A Theory of Knowledge
Epistemology studies…
1) Mechanisms of cognition
2) Definition of knowledge
2) What does it mean to “know” something?
What is KNOWLEDGE in Epistemology?
Knowing is a mental state!
To know something it is necessary to have beliefs.
However, is believing in something sufficient for knowledge???
Knowledge properties:
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
What is Scepticism?
Challenge to the study of human knowledge.
Sceptics believe that our knowledge of reality is limited. Moreover, we lack proper justification for our beliefs.
Four Arguments are…
1) Plato’s Cave Analogy
2) Unreliability of the Senses
3) Dreaming
4) Evil Demon Argument
Plato’s Cave Analogy is…
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
Unreliability of Senses Argument is…
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)
JTB is…
Justified True Belief
Rationalists and Empirists
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
Single experiences, as well as multiple experiences (in the case of Senses’ Unreliability), are…
Unreliable and unstable
Skepticism: The Dream Argument
1) When dreaming, one cannot tell one is dreaming. Therefore, we might be in a dream, unaware of this.
2) Attacks sensory experience
Scepticism: The Evil Demon Argument (Rene Descartes)
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.
Why senses can be reliable?
Such sort of claims appeal to memory.
However, memory is notoriously unreliable (The Supermarket Experiment) and can be reconstructed.
What are some responses to Scepticism?
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)
Response to Skepticism: What is a Representative Realism?
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)
Primary and Secondary Qualities (John Locke)
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.
Response to Skepticism: What are the aspects of Idealism? (George Berkeley)
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”
What does Idealism fail to explain?
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
Response to Scepticism: Casual Realism
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.
What are other types of problems related to Casual Realism? (Illusions, delusions)
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
What is important about these Theories? (Casual Realism, Idealism, Representative Realism?)
They do not refute Skepticism
