Particularism Flashcards
What is foundationalism?
Foundationalism holds that some beliefs need no support from other beliefs. These beliefs are foundational.
How does Chisholm describe the problem of the criterion?
Two questions we can ask
A. What do we know?
B. What criteria can we use for deciding what we know?
How does Skepticism respond to the problem of the criterion?
We cannot know what we know without knowing what criteria we use for deciding what we know. We also can’t know what criteria we we can use without knowing what we know. Therefore the problem of the criterion cannot be answerable.
How does Methodism respond to the problem of the criterion?
You should start with and idea of a criterion to use and then use it to find out what we know.
How does Particularism respond to the problem of the criterion?
You should start with what you know and then use it to find an answer to what criteria we can use for deciding what we know.
What is empiricism?
- A form of Methodism
- Beliefs about your own subjective experience cannot be intelligibly doubted.
- Neither can sentences that are true by definition.
- From these foundations, we postulate the external world as an explanation for the explanation for the experiences that we have.
What are Chisholm’s objections to Methodism?
- How can your starting point be a broad generalization about knowledge?
- Methodist theories run the risk of ruling out many things we believe from being knowledge, or perhaps including too many things as knowledge.
What is Epistemic Preferability?
The basic concept of epistemology: one attitude’s being preferable to others.
When is a proposition beyond a reasonable doubt?
When a proposition pWhat is preferable to withholding judgement on p.
When is a proposition evident?
When a proposition is beyond a reasonable doubt and it can be used as evidence in evaluating other beliefs.
When does a proposition have “some presumption in its favour?”
When believing it is preferable to believing not p (but withholding it might be preferable to either)
When is a proposition certain?
When a proposition is maximally preferable i.e. believing no other proposition is preferable than believing it.
What is a self-presenting state?
A state that is impossible to be in without it being evident to you that you are in it.
What are axiomatic propositions?
Propositions that cannot possibly be false. They are evident for anyone who understands what they mean.
What is a directly evident proposition?
Propositions that are evident to anyone in the right mental state or who understands the proposition.
