Infallibilism

Question 1

What is a way to remove the element of luck from the process

Answer 1

To require the justification to be so strong that the truth is guaranteed( to claim that hat knowledge can only be allowed if the belief is infallible(impossible to be wrong))

Question 2

What is infallibilism not

Answer 2

The claim that we must feel certain in our beliefs to have knowledge as certainty can fluctuate with mood and is a subjective feeling

Question 3

What is the theory of infallibilism

Answer 3

That we should only count as knowledge those things which we cannot rationally doubt(e.g we cannot rationally doubt that we exist)

Question 4

Is infallibilism open to gettier or fake barn cases

Answer 4

No as all the examples are open to to doubt/alternative explanations so they cannot be claimed as knowledge and once knowledge is restricted to things that cannot be doubted, there’s no room for gettier examples to thrive

Question 5

What do some infallibilists argue

Answer 5

We should distinguish belief from knowledge. Knowledge is not a kind of belief but a separate thing as beliefs only occur when doubt is possible and knowledge only occurs when it is impossible.

Question 6

What example did price use

Answer 6

When you are are in pain you know you are in pain, you cannot be wrong so suggests that this isn’t an issue of belief

However if someone saw you and inferred that you were in pain they would hold a belief that you are in pain as they cannot know you are in pain as there could be another explanation

Question 7

What is the criticisms of infallibilism

Answer 7

Goes against our intuition that we can know a lot of things. It implies that we have very little knowledge about the world- we only have knowledge about some logical truths and some facts about our minds like sensations we experience

Most philosophers don’t want to pursue such a radical redefinition on what counts as knowledge. It involves leaving behind the very concept and what we are setting out to define . Only by holding some sort of connection with ordinary usage can we be said to be analysing the concept of knowledge at all

Question 8

What are positive features of infallibilism

Answer 8

Not open to gettier counter-examples
It accords with our intuition that knowledge involves a level of certainty- all though in this case it is absolute certainty