Arguments and Evidence 2.0

H2KnowledgeandInquiryArgumentsandEvidence Adaptedfrom by@niuniuclubCopy of Arguments and Evidence 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.GoldenCross- Since1950,theS&P500hasexperienced36differentgoldencrosses.About80%ofthetime,stocksarehigherayearlater,withanaveragereturnofabout10%. Objectivity/Universality,tobeuseful Moralknowledge● Thereasonphilosopherscontinuetosearchforobjectiveanduniversalmoralknowledge—suchasKant’sattemptstoformulateaCategoricalImperative

—isbecausesuchobjectivityanduniversalitywouldmakemoralknowledgeparticularlyusefulinguidingourbehaviour,sincewewouldhaverulesandprincipleswecouldapplyinallinstances.Infact,wewouldbeabletoeradicateallmoraldisagreement!○ "Actasifthemaximofyouractionweretobecomethroughyourwillauniversallawofnature." Coherent,tobeuseful RiseofHitler● EvenifwecouldobjectivelydiscoverallthefactsrelatingtoHitler’sriseandlistobjectivelyallthereasonsforhisrisetopower,thiswouldbeoflittlevaluetous:itwouldbeameaninglesscompilationoffactsthatdonotfitintoa‘coherent’narrativethat‘makessense’tous.Hence,historywillhavefailedinitsdesiretohelpusunderstandthepastandlearnfromit!● ByattributingHitler’srisetopowertothepopularappealofhisfascistideology,evenifitneglectsothercauseslikeJewisheconomicprivilegeortheroleofpropaganda,ittellsusafarmoreusefulinsightintoourpastthatwecanlearnfrom:thatweneedtopurgesuchnoxiousideologiesfromcivildiscourse! TypesofKnowledge Propositional/Know-that 知道 “Themanisspoutingnonsense”● Propositionalknowledgecanbeexpressedin“that”clauses:“thatthemanisspoutingnonsense”,forinstance.● Itcanbeclearlytrueorfalse! Practical/Know-how “Iknowhowtoshit”● Nopropositionsorbeliefsinvolvedhere—it’sapracticalcompetency.● Idon’tneedtobelieve,orbeawareofthefactthatIknowhowtoshit—ifIproduceshit,Iknowhowtoshit.● Noreasonrequiredhere—agoodexampleforexperientialknowledge. Acquaintance 认识 “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 “Iamsad”● Introspectiveknowledgeseemstobeself-justifying—withoutanexternal,mind-independentrealitytocorrespondtogiventhatitconcernsmentalstates,itseemsthatbelievingintrospectiveclaimsappearstobesufficientjustificationforthesebeliefstobecomeknowledge.● Forinstance,IcanknowthatIamsadjustbyrealisingandbelievingitalone

—fewwouldaskmetoproducefurtherjustificationformybelief. InternalismvsExternalism(ApproachestoJustification) Internalism,becausewecanhavejustificationevenwhenthereisnoreliabilityinbeliefformation 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,evenifhedoesnotpossessanyinternalmentalstate,i.e.experiencestheseafarerdirectlyorintrospectivelypossess,availabletojustifythisknowledge!Hence,justificationmustbeaboutsomethingexternaltothesubject—theobjectiverelationshipbetweenjustificationandtruth… Externalism,becausetheconnectionofjustificationandtruthrendersbeliefsobjective(mind-independent) Litmuspaper● Wewantjustificationtominimiseepistemicerror—thiscanonlybethecaseifourjustificationhassomecorrelationalorcausalrelationshipwiththetruth.Inotherwords,ourjustificationmustmakethebeliefobjectivelylikelytobetrue.● Ifoneappliessomeliquidtoalitmuspaperanditturnsredthentheobjectivelikelihoodthattheliquidisacidicisveryhigh—andwewouldsaythatoneknowstheliquidisacidic.Butthestrongcorrelationbetweenredlitmuspaperandacidityisnotaccessiblebyintrospectionandreflectionalone.Rather,thestrongcorrelationisknownonlythroughempiricaltesting,afactexistingindependentofourinternalmentalstates.● So,ifepistemicjustificationimpliesthatone’sbeliefisobjectivelylikelytobetruethenjustificationisnotdeterminedentirelybyone’sinternalstates. NeedforBelief

Ostensiblyno,becausebeliefisincompatiblewithknowledgeduetoalinguistictrick. “Idon’tbelieveIwillwin,IknowIwillwin”● Beliefimplies'ambivalence',ornotbeingentirelysureaboutthepropositionmade,whileknowledgeimplies'sureness',sobeliefappearstobeaninappropriatedescriptor.● Thisis,however,alinguisticdistinction:whatonemeanstosayisonedoesn'tjustbelieve"p"butthat"p"willbetrue,asanexpressionofconfidence.“Idon’tjustbelieveIwillwin,IknowIwillwin.”Hence,knowledgestillrequiresbelief. Ostensiblyno,becauseknowledgeismoreabouthowoneactsthanthebeliefsonemighthold.Hence,knowledgeisseparatefrombelief. KahootQuiz● Inaclassroomquiz,onemightguessthedateofthefalloftheSovietUnionin1991,evenifonedoesnot"believe"ittobetrue,butwewouldstillsaytheyknewtheanswer.Hence,knowledgeisseparatefrombelief.● Butwecantreatactionsasimplicitreflectionsof/assentstobeliefs!Atleastinaminimalsense.Hence,beliefisnecessaryforknowledge. Link:Whilebeliefseemsnecessarytoknowledge,itisnotsuff