PHL-1502 Lecture 15: 15 Epistemology
9 Nov 2016
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Three concepts: knowledge is useless without certainty, certainty without truth is dangerous, the difference between certain knowledge and convincing absurdity is justification. The justification of a belief is the assurance that the belief is true. Accidental beliefs do not count as (cid:498)knowledge(cid:499). Being confident in a belief is not the same thing as knowing it. Knowledge versus skepticism: knowledge is a justified, true belief. Belief: a kind of mental state that a person must possess. True: a belief that corresponds to reality. Justified: a non-accidental belief: the alternative to knowledge is skepticism. All we can hope for is opinion and belief. In some cases, we can be unsure that we have knowledge. Believing something is not the same thing as knowing it: it is possible that a belief could be true, and yet we do now know it. The existence of facts: facts exist whether they are known or not, some facts can never be known.
