RI JTB 4th Condition 2023

Suggested 4th Condition Examples Criticisms No False Belief Condition The proposition must not be based on a false belief or on a group of beliefs of which one is false. Aka No False lemmas (a term used in logic to refer to a subsidiary/prior proposition that is assumed to be true and used to demonstrate another proposition) I cannot be said to know that Sam is in the room if my knowledge is based on the false belief that I am seeing Sam when I am actually seeing Tim. Doesn’t deal with beliefs that are not based on false beliefs. E.g. Barney is driving, unknowingly, through Fake Barn County. He turns his head and sees the only real barn in that vicinity and believes that he has seen a barn. No false belief here because he has indeed seen the real barn yet he has luckily saw the only real barn in that whole area. Defeasibility Condition There must not be any new information that would count against (or defeat) the justification. I cannot be said to know that Sam is in the room if later on, I come to know that Tim is in the room masquerading as Sam. May rule out all knowledge gained inductively, because in induction we can’t test every case. Reliability Condition Our belief must be based on a reliable method (note though that reliabilists would claim this to be in place of the J condition instead). A reliable method is one that frequently produces truth. I must use a reliable method (eg retina scan? DNA test) to know that Sam is in the room. What defines a reliable method? A method we consider reliable may still possibly deceive us, or may not be equally applied by all humans. E.g. DNA testing has errors Condition of Causal Connection There must be a direct link between my justification and my belief. My belief that Sam is in the room is false when it is Tim that I see, but it would be true if it were Sam. It is not easy to establish direct causal links and so we risk not admitting many pieces of knowledge: Eg: ‘All men are mortal’ becomes problematic because there is no direct link between individuals dying and all people dying. So we are relying on induction to make this statement.