H2 Knowledge and Inquiry — Arguments and Evidence

H2KnowledgeandInquiryArgumentsandEvidence GENERALEPISTEMOLOGY Argument Example Criteriafor“Good”Knowledge Scope “Allbachelorsareunmarried”● Wemightknowthat“allbachelorsareunmarried”withcompletecertainty—butsuchtautologiesseemtohavelessepistemicvalue,becausetheydon’ttellusanythingnew:ifweknewwhatabachelorwas,wewouldalreadyknowthisanalytictruththatallbachelorsareunmarried! Usefulness WilliamJames’Pragmatism● Weseemtovalueknowledgeovermerebeliefsbecauseitseemstobeusefulorprofitableinourlives—wewanttoknowwhetheritis7amratherthanjustbelieveittobethecase,sowecanaccuratelydecidewhetherwehavetimetoeatbreakfastwithoutbeinglateforwork!● That’swhysomescholarslikeWilliamJameshaveevendefinedtruthaspragmatism! Certainty,tobeuseful Pythagoras’Theorem● Thismathematicaltheoremhasalotofepistemicandpragmaticvalue,becausewehavedeductivelyderiveditfromEuclid’saxioms—thisiscertain,withnopossibilityoferror!● Thiscertaintyallowsustoapplyittoallright-angledtriangles,withoutworryingthatitwillgiveusafalseresult—itisuseful,bothinoureverydaylivesandalsointheconstructionofnewknowledgeingeometry. Reliability,tobeuseful Gamblerandtheroulettewheel● Thegambler’sbeliefthattheballwillnextlandonredisnotuseful,becauseitisnotderivedbyareliableprocess—hewillonedaybewrong! V=IR● Thislawinphysicshasalotofutilitybecauseitisreliable—wehaveverifiedthroughmanyexperimentsthatmultiplyingthecurrentandresistancedoesindeedgiveusthevoltage,allowingustosafelyusethatequationtodesigncircuitsandelectronicdevices. Objectivity/Universality,tobeuseful Moralknowledge● Thereasonphilosopherscontinuetosearchforobjectiveanduniversalmoralknowledge—suchasKant’sattemptstoformulateaCategoricalImperative—isbecausesuchobjectivityanduniversalitywouldmakemoralknowledgeparticularlyusefulinguidingourbehaviour,sincewewouldhaverulesandprincipleswecouldapplyinallinstances.Infact,wewouldbeabletoeradicateallmoraldisagreement! Coherent,tobeuseful RiseofHitler● EvenifwecouldobjectivelydiscoverallthefactsrelatingtoHitler’sriseand

listobjectivelyallthereasonsforhisrisetopower,thiswouldbeoflittlevaluetous:itwouldbeameaninglesscompilationoffactsthatdonotfitintoa‘coherent’narrativethat‘makessense’tous.Hence,historywillhavefailedinitsdesiderataofhelpingusunderstandthepastandlearnfromit!● ByattributingHitler’srisetopowertothepopularappealofhisfascistideology,evenifitneglectsothercauseslikeJewisheconomicprivilegeortheroleofpropaganda,ittellsusafarmoreusefulinsightintoourpastthatwecanlearnfrom:thatweneedtopurgesuchnoxiousideologiesfromcivildiscourse! TypesofKnowledge Propositional/Know-that “Themaniswearingahat”● Propositionalknowledgecanbeexpressedin“that”clauses:“thatthemaniswearingahat”,forinstance.● Itcanbeclearlytrueorfalse! Practical/Know-how “Iknowhowtoswim”● Nopropositionsorbeliefsinvolvedhere—it’sapracticalcompetency.● Idon’tneedtobelieve,orbeawareofthefactthatIknowhowtoswim—ifyouthrowmeintoapoolandIcanstayafloat,Iknowhowtoswim.● Noreasonrequiredhere—agoodexampleforexperientialknowledge. Acquaintance “Iknowthisstreet”● Knowledgebyacquaintanceisfamiliaritywithaperson,place,orthing,typicallyobtainedthroughperceptualexperience—forexample,youmight“know”thestreetyouliveon,evenifyouarenotawareofthatfactofyourknowledge. Modal Descartes’MindandBody/Berkeley’sPerception● Whilesomeclaimspertaintoactualfacts,therearealsoclaimsaboutmodalfacts,abouthowthingscould,must,orcouldnothavebeen.○ Descartes:Itispossibleforthemindtoexistwithoutthebody.○ Berkeley:Itisimpossibleforanythingtoexistunperceived.● Ofcourse,thisraisesquestionsofepistemicaccess(howdoweaccessthemodalrealm?)andnavigation(howdowenavigatefromonekindofmodality,suchasmetaphysicalmodality,toanother,suchasconceptualmodality. Introspective “Iamhungry”● Introspectiveknowledgeseemstobeself-justifying—withoutanexternal,mind-independentrealitytocorrespondtogiventhatitconcernsmentalstates,itseemsthatbelievingintrospectiveclaimsappearstobesufficientjustificationforthesebeliefstobecomeknowledge.● Forinstance,IcanknowthatIamhungryjustbyrealisingandbelievingitalone—fewwouldaskmetoproducefurtherjustificationformybelief. InternalismvsExternalism Internalism,becausewecanhavejustificationevenwhenthereisnoreliability NewEvilDemonProblem● Imagineasubjectwithbeliefsandexperiencesidenticaltoours,butthesubjectisbeingsystematicallydeceivedbyamaliciousCartesiandemonsothatalltheirbeliefsturnoutfalse.Inspiteofthesubject'sunfortunatedeception,wedonotthinkthissubjectceasestoberationalintakingthingstobeastheyappearaswedo.

○ Afterall,itispossiblethatwecouldberadicallydeceivedinthesameway,yetwearestilljustifiedinholdingmostofourbeliefsinspiteofthispossibility.● Surely,then,justificationmustbeaninternalistmatter. Notinternalism,becauseabelieverbeingjustifiedisdifferentfromabeliefbeingjustified NewEvilDemonProblem● Well,abelieverbeingjustifiedisdifferentfromabeliefbeingjustified:○ Inassertingthatabelieverisjustified,weareassertingthatthebelieverdoesnotholdthebeliefsshedoesbecauseofsomedefectinher.○ Inassertingthatabeliefisjustified,weareassertingthatthereisnotsomedefectinthebelieforthemeansbywhichthebeliefisproducedthatshouldleadustogiveupthatbelief.● Itmaybethecasethatthesedeceivedsubjectsareequallyjustifiedinholdingtheirbeliefs,butitisalsointuitivetothinkthattheirbeliefsthemselvesarenotequallyjustifiedasours,becausethebeliefsareproducedbyadefective,unreliableprocessofdeception. Externalism,becauseweattributeknowledgetopeopleeveniftheydonot‘knowhowtheyknow’ Compass● Aseafarerinthe18thcenturymightnotfullyunderstandwhyacompassenableshimtonavigatereliably—hemightnothavereceivedextensiveeducationabouttheearth’smagneticfieldandthepropertiesofmagnets● However,wewouldstillsaythathisknowledgeofhisbearingsisjustified,evenifhedoesnotpossessanyinternalmentalstatetojustifythisknowledge!Hence,justificationmustbeaboutsomethingexternal—theobjectiverelationshipbetweenjustificationandtruth… Externalism,becausetheconnectionofjustificationandtruthrendersitobjective Litmuspaper● Wewantjustificationtominimiseepistemicerror—thiscanonlybethecaseifourjustificationhassomecorrelationalorcausalrelationshipwiththetruth.Inotherwords,ourjustificationmustmakethebeliefobjectivelylikelytobetrue.● Ifoneappliessomeliquidtoalitmuspaperanditturnsredthentheobjectivelikelihoodthattheliquidisacidicisveryhigh—andwewouldsaythatoneknowstheliquidisacidic.Butthestrongcorrelationbetweenredlitmuspaperandacidityisnotreflectivelyaccessible.● So,ifepistemicjustificationimpliesthatone’sbeliefisobjectivelylikelytobetruethenjustificationisnotdeterminedentirelybyone’sinternalstates. NeedforBelief Ostensiblyno,becauseofalinguistictrick “Idon’tbelieveIwillwin,I knowIwillwin”● Beliefimplies'ambivalence'whileknowledgeimplies'sureness',sobeliefappearstobeaninappropriatedescriptor.● Thisis,however,alinguisticdistinction:whatonemeanstosayisonedoesn'tjustbelieve"p"butthat"p"willbetrue,asanexpressionofconfidence. Ostensiblyno,becauseknowledgeismoreabouthowoneacts WhoWantstoBeaMillionaire● Inagameshow,onemightguessananswerevenifonedoesnot"believe"ittobetrue,butwewouldstillsaytheyknewtheanswer● Butwecantreatactionsasimplicitreflectionsof/assentstobeliefs! Yes,becausethenwe Readingaphysicstextbook

wouldnotbeableto‘learn’ ● Byreadingaphysicstextbook,Iacquirebeliefsabouthowelectricalcircuitswork—thatV=IR,andsoon.● Butifbeliefwasnotanecessaryconditionforknowledge,IcouldbesaidtohaveknownthesefactsevenbeforeIfathomedandcametobelievethem—Iwouldn’thavelearntanythingbyreadingthetextbook,becauseIhad‘known’allthefactsinthetextbookevenbeforeIbelievedinthosefacts!● Thisisclearlyanabsurdconclusion,illustratingtheneedforbelief. Yes,toavoidMoore’sParadox "Itisraining,butIdonotbelieveitisraining."● Itseemsincoherenttomakeclaimsoftheform“p,butIdonotbelievep”○ Perhapsbecausetheassertionofaclaim"p"impliesthatthesubjectbelieves"p".○ Perhapsbecausetheassertionoftheclaim"Ibelievethatp"functionsasanalternativewayofexpressing"p":itisastatementabouttheworldratherthanastatementaboutone'sstateofmind. NeedforTruth Ostensiblyno,becausetruthisinaccessibleinempiricalinquiry,leadingtoscepticism Illusions●