5.2 The Traditional Analysis of Knowledge

TL;DR

Knowing a proposition requires that it is true, believed by the knower, and justified, but the claim that the proposition must be necessarily true is ambiguous. Additionally, knowledge does not require conscious belief and can be based on reliable causal connections.

Transcript

okay so how might we begin to pin down what we mean by knowledge that P what is it for somebody let's call them s the subject to know a proposition P well the standard traditional analysis is to say first of all P has to be true you can't know a proposition that's false you might think you know it but if actually it's false you don't know it second... Read More

Key Insights

• ❓ Knowledge requires that a proposition is true, believed, and justified.
• 🛄 The claim that a proposition must be necessarily true for knowledge is ambiguous.
• ❓ Differentiating between the proposition being true and everyone believing it is crucial.
• 💼 Unconscious knowledge and belief exist in cases of consistent patterns or unconscious processes.
• ❓ Infinite regress poses challenges to the requirement of conscious reflection in knowledge.
• ♿ Approaches like coherentism, foundationalism, and externalism address issues of justification and access to knowledge.

Questions & Answers

Q: Can knowledge be based on a false proposition?

No, knowledge requires the proposition to be true. However, there may be cases where a proposition is believed to be true but is actually false, leading to confusion.

Q: How does belief impact knowledge?

Belief is necessary for knowledge, but there are cases of unconscious belief, such as in consistent guessing or blindsight, where individuals display knowledge without conscious awareness.

Q: Can knowledge be justified without infinite regress?

Several approaches exist to halt the regress of justification, including coherentism, which relies on interlocking beliefs, and foundationalism, which identifies certain beliefs as foundational and self-evident.

Q: Can knowledge be based on external factors?

Externalism suggests that knowledge can be based on factors that may not be consciously accessible, such as reliable causal connections. This is applicable to both humans and animals.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Traditional analysis of knowledge states that a proposition must be true, believed by the knower, and justified.

• The claim that a proposition must be necessarily true for knowledge is ambiguous, as some propositions can be known but not necessarily true.

• It is important to differentiate between the proposition being true and everyone believing it, as they are not the same.

• Knowledge requires belief, but there are cases where unconscious knowledge or belief can exist based on consistent patterns or unconscious processes.

• The requirement that knowledge must be self-reflective and known to be known is impossible due to infinite regress.