Epistemology

Question 1

Analytic

Answer 1

A proposition that is true in meaning of the words
Eg: A bachelor is an unmarried man, a square has 4 sides

Question 2

Synthetic

Answer 2

A proposition that is not analytic, but true or false based on how the world is
Eg: Snow is white, the Eiffel tower is in Paris

Question 3

Necessary

Answer 3

A proposition which is always true as it could not have been otherwise
Eg To read an essay I need to know how to read, All bachelors are unmarried

Question 4

Contingent

Answer 4

A contingent truth is a propostion that could either be true or false, a state of affairs that may or may not be true based on the context
Eg The cat is black, It is raining

Question 5

A priori

Answer 5

Knowledge that doesn’t require experience to be known to be true or false

Question 6

A posteriori

Answer 6

Reasoning or knowledge which can only be known to be true or false through sense

Question 7

Matters of fact

Answer 7

Contingent truths that only deal with experience and can be denied coherently.
Eg It is snowing

Question 8

Relation of Ideas

Answer 8

Truths that can be known independently from experience and are intuitivly certain
Eg 2+2=4

Question 9

Humes Fork

Answer 9

A way of categorising propositional knowledge claims into two key branches - matters of fact and relation of ideas. All truth-apt statements must be one of these

Question 10

Appeal to Authority fallacy

Answer 10

A mistake where people accept something is correct because it is accepted by a (non-specialist) authority figure

Question 11

Fallacy of equivocation

Answer 11

A mistake in which people use the same word with two different definitions as if the definitions are interchangeable

Question 12

Valid vs invalid argument

Answer 12

A valid argument is a deductive argument where all the premises entail the conclusion, whereas an invalid argument does not

Question 13

Inductive vs deductive argument

Answer 13

An inductive argument is one in which if all of the premises are true then the conclusion is unlikely to be false, whereas a deductive argument is one where if all the premises are true the conclusion cannot be false.

Question 14

Afiirming the consequent

Question 15

The tripartite view - propositional knowledge is…
+ example

Answer 15

Justified true belief.
S knows that p if and only if:

S is justified in believing that p,
p is true and
S believes that p

Question 16

Problem with the Justified true belief

Answer 16

“Lucky true belief”

Question 17

Necessary condition

Answer 17

One that must be true for another condition to occur
e.g sitting the exam is a necessary condition for passing the exam

Question 18

Sufficient condition

Answer 18

One that, if true, guarantees a certain outcome
E.g: Suppose it is true that it is both raining and sunny. This is a sufficient condition for “it is raining” to be true.

Question 19

Gettier style case

Answer 19

Any hypothetical scenario in which shows that someone has x theory of knowledge but intuitively doesn’t seem to have knowledge

Question 20

Infallibilism argument

Answer 20

P1 No one can know what is false
C1 Therefore if I know P, I can’t be mistaken about P
C2 Therefore, for justification to secure knowledge, justification must guarantee truth
C3 Therefore, if I am justified in believing P, I can’t possibly be mistaken
C4 Therefore, if it is possible that I am mistaken, then I can’t be justified in believing P
C5 Therefore infallibilism is true

Question 21

Infallibilism

Answer 21

Makes a fallacy of equivocation between “It can’t be the case” and “I can’t possibly be mistaken”. The two claims are distinct, since one is a calim about whether I am mistaken, while the other is a claim about whether I could be mistaken. Therefore the argument fails, and we need some other independent reason to believe we could not possibly be mistaken.

Question 22

3 types of knowledge

Answer 22

Ability (how)
Acquintance (who)
Propositional (that)

Question 23

Example of belief not being necessary for knowedge

Answer 23

Talented but self-doubting math student example

Question 24

Example of justification not being necessary for knowledge

Answer 24

Luckily guessing the weather tommorow

Question 25

Sosa’s AAA criteria

Answer 25

Adroitness - was acquired through an exercise of intellectual virtues
Accuracy - is the belief true
Aptness - is the belief true because an agent gained it through intellectual virtues

Question 26

virtue

Answer 26

A state of a person that is good by way of helping the person achieve some purpose or goal - intellectual virtue reaches for truth