RI The Gettier Problem 2023

THE GETTIERPROBLEM

The Gettier Problem◦Recap -Tripartite view of knowledge◦S knows that P iff. ◦1) S believes that P◦2) S is justified in believing that P◦3) P is true◦Conditions are individually necessary and jointly sufficient for knowledge.◦Edmund Gettier: Is it possible that S fulfils all 3 conditions but yet does not have knowledge?2

Preliminaries◦1) It is possible for a person to be justified in believing a proposition that is in fact false. E.g. Flat Earth◦2) For any proposition P, if S is justified in believing that P, and P entails Q (i.e. If P then Q), and S deduces Q from P and accepts Q as a result of this deduction, S is justified in believing that Q.◦Example◦I am justified in believing that it is raining outside because I am seeing it from my window. From this, I deduce that the floor outside is wet even though I haven’t actually seen the wet floor. I merely deduce it from seeing it rain through the window. 3

Gettier Case: Smith and Jones◦Smith and Jones have both applied for the same job.◦Smith has strong evidence for the following proposition A: “Jones is the man who will get the job, and Jones has 10 coins in his pocket”. ◦Proposition A entails proposition B: “The man who will get the job has 10 coins in his pocket.”◦Smith sees this entailment and accepts B because of his justification in believing A◦Recall Prelim. Pt. 24

Plot Twist…◦However, unbeknownst to Smith, he himself will get the job.◦And unbeknownst to him, he also has 10 coins in his pocket.◦Prop. B (the man who will get the job has 10 coins in his pocket) -true ◦Even though prop. A (Jones is the man who will get the job, and Jones has 10 coins in his pocket; from which Smith deduced B) -false ◦Recall Prelim. Pt. 1◦Furthermore, Smith believes that B andis justified in believing that B◦So Smith has JTB of prop. B!◦But he doesn’t seem to have knowledge of B. Why?◦B is true only because of the number of coins in Smith’s pocket but Smith doesn’t know how many coins there is in his pocket. ◦Rather, he believes B only on the basis of knowing the number of coins in Jones’ pocket.

More Gettier Cases◦Gettierprovides one more example in his reading (slightly harder to understand)◦Key: “either…or” statements are justified so long asoneof the conditions are true◦E.g. Either Jones owns a Ford or Brown is in Boston –justified so long as Jones owns a Ford (regardless of the location of Brown)◦E.g. Either I am beautiful or RI is in Bishan. 6

Simpler GettierCase◦I look at the clock and say that I know that the time now is 12pm◦Unbeknownst to me, the clock has stopped working with its hands showing exactly 12 o’clock◦ButI just so happen to glance at the clock at indeed 12pm◦Do I have knowledge? According to the tripartite view:◦J –clock is sufficient justification for time-telling◦T –it is indeed 12pm◦B –I believe that it is◦And yet, I can’t be said to know that it is 12pm since the clock has stopped working

Consequence◦Tripartite view of knowledge appears insufficient to give us knowledge.◦Some have suggested that we need a 4thcondition◦Two possible responses (more on this in tutorial):◦1) Infallibilism◦2) Virtue Epistemology 8

Infallibilism◦Gettier-style counterexamples work because the believer only has reasonable justification◦But reasonable justification can still result in beliefs that are true only by luck (cf. the clock e.g.)◦Solution? Have more robust justification to guarantee truth◦Infallibilism: count as knowledge only those things which we cannot rationally doubt◦Group 1: “2+2=4,” “I am feeling pain right now,” “I am having an online lecture-like sensation” ◦Group 2: “There are things like flowers in the world,” “Things fall when let go from a height,” “Clocks are reliable ways of telling the time”◦Which group of propositions is not open to doubt?

GettierResolved?◦No longer susceptible to the GettierProblem◦Absolute justification guarantees truth and removes that element of luck◦Example: spoiled analog clock showing exactly the ‘right’time, weird use of logic rules (inferring from the false belief to a true disjunctive proposition)