How do we find out what we know?

How do we judge claims to know?

ISSUES:

RELIABILITY EXTENT KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE TRUTH LANGUAGE SCIENCE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE

RATIONALISM, EMPIRICISM,SKEPTICISM, TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM,SCIENCE

1. RATIONALISM A PRIORI -based upon LOGIC, LAWS of REASON

some knowledge is possible based upon reason alone

some knowledge using reason alone is knowledge of reality

Descartes-dissillusionment, credibility gaps, cognitive dissonance

psychological test

CERTAINTY- clear and distinct ideas- indubitable

innate ideas- knowledg of self, God, world

Leibniz truths of reasoning-necessary- contradictions, excluded middle

truths of fact - contingent- sufficient reason needed

2. EMPIRICISM

Locke-empiricist- mind is tabla rasa

knowledge of ideas- ideas are representations of things

representations are copies- ? how accurate?

primary / secondary qualities

Berkeley: subjective idealism

secondary qualities are ideas as are primary qualities

all words are names for recurring patterns of sense experiences

HUME: a. tabla rasa empiricism skepticism

perceptions impressions -thoughts- force-feeling

ideas faint-thinking

no ideas without sense impressions

reasoning (a priori) does not lead to knowledge

sense impressions are not proof of an external independent reality

b. copy theory

c. atomic theory

TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM- KANT

unity of consciousness

unity of being

unifying act of the mind

rules for thoughts-CATEGORIES (innate)-necessary for UNDERSTANDING

substance/space/time/unity/plurality

/cause and effect/ possibility/necessity/reality

Form or structure of Knowledge of reality- reason -CATEGORIES

Content of the knowledge of reality - senses

IDEAS CONSTITUTE OUR EXPERIENCE

Knowledge- of the thing as it appears phenomena

of the thing as it is in itself noumena

From Doubt to Opinion to Belief to Knowledge

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DOUBT> BELIEF >CLAIM -FALSE- FALSIFIED- Contradictory

- vs Evidence

-TRUE -VERIFIED w/o justification

w/ justification=KNOWLEDGE

How much justification?

How much evidence?

Strong Claim-can't allow contradiction

Weak Claim -allows testing

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How do we acquire ideas?

Rationalism Empiricism

innate empirical

a priori from experience

How is knowledge organized in the mind?

Mind introduces new principles Mind arranges and stores

of order into experience tests arrangements

tests efficacy

Transcendental Idealism

Kant

all propositions are a priori empirical

analytic synthetic

I. Analytic a priori: e.g. math, definitions

II. Analytic empirical don't exist

III. Synthetic a priori: categories, rules, principles

part of perception

part of thought

IV. Synthetic empirical: all physical claims

science

What is truth?

What is the relation of knowledge to truth?

How do we determine what is true?

KNOWLEDGE does imply > Belief

Belief does not Imply Knowledge

Knowledge > evidence, JUSTIFICATION

WARRANTED TRUE BELIEF

CAUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WARRANTED TRUE BELIEF may not be knowledge if true by ACCIDENT

MODES of WARRANTY

1. LOGICAL

2. SEMANTIC

3. SYSTEMIC

4. EMPIRICAL

warranted true beliefs

warranted false beliefs

unwarranted true beliefs

Justification , Warranty comes in degrees

TRUTH does not have degrees: statement p is either true or it isn't

Truth is a property of beliefs, statements

I. CORRESPONDENCE THEORY Russell

There exists an independent realm of facts: reality

Truth is the correspondence of belief with fact

BELIEF > Fact = truth

BELIEF / fact = false

Problem: verification involves subjective experiences: observations and require interpretations

II. COHERENCE THEORY Blanshard

TRUTH is a property of a related group of consistent statements

e.g., Mathematics Science

systemic coherence of propositions interconnectedness of beliefs

Problem: 1. what if other judgements (statements) are false? consistent error is possible?

2.coherence theory in the last analysis seems to involve a correspondence for the first judgements must be verified directly. How?

III. PRAGMATIC THEORY - C.S. Peirce James Dewey

Examines how beliefs work in practice. the practical difference.

Truth of a belief is determined by evaluating how well the belief satisfies the whole of human nature over a long period of time: how well does it WORK? What are its consequences? This makes TRUTH PSYCHOLOGICAL.

What difference do the beliefs make if they are true?

TRUTH is whatever has met a society's criteria for justification.

Problem: 1. What is justified for one community to believe may not be true!!!!

2. How to explain errors? falsehoods?

There is a difference between truth and justified belief which pragmatism overlooks.

Solution: postulate an ideal

truth+ what an ideal community would believe in the long run of time

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DOES TRUTH MATTER ?

If objectivity is rejected, every groups claims would be equal !!

> racism, sexism, Nazism, etc...

toleration is pragmatist value

but all values are relative to communities > self contradictory !!

Can you put the theories together??? are they complementary ?

e.g.

1. empirical claims > correspondence theory

2. semantic claims > coherence theory

3. ethical claims > pragmatic theory

Not really, for it can't account for differences, can't resolve disagreements, conflicts, particularly, social and ethical issues.

1. Instrumentalist View - Pragmatist Theory

theory predicts, works

2. The Realist View - Correspondence Theory

theory provides true explanations

3. The Conceptual Relativist - Coherence Theory

-truth is coherence within a given framework

coheres or fits in with a system of beliefs

-true theory is that which is accepted by the community of working scientists with its CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

-independent checks are not possible- all observations are theory laden

Truth is that which :

corresponds to fact

coheres with , consistent with, other established truths

is a property of a statement that has useful consequences

Perhaps what is the most useful consequence of a belief is to correspond to reality(facts) and to cohere (be consistent with ) other accepted truths.