1.1Epistemology:keyconcepts
WhatisKnowledge?
•  Tradi&onaldefini&on:jus<fiedtruebelief.
Wedis<nguishphilosophicalclaims
fromthoseindifferenttotruth
•  Mar<nHeidegger(1889-1976):claimedthat
mosttalkisidletalk.
•  HarryFrankfurt(1929-):introducearelated
concep<onofbullshit.
•  Victorianwriterscalledit“humbug.”
Heidegger’sIdleTalk
Because[Idletalk]haslostitsprimaryrela<onship-ofbeingtowardstheen<tytalkedabout,orelsehas
neverachievedsucharela<onship,itdoesnot
communicateinsuchawayastoletthisen<tybe
appropriatedinaprimordialmanner,but
communicatesratherbyfollowingtherouteof
gossipingandpassingthewordalong.Whatissaid-inthe-talkassuch,spreadsinwidercirclesandtakeson
anauthorita<vecharacter.Thingsaresobecauseone
saysso.
Whatistruth?
•  Correspondencetheory:trueclaimshavea
kindofpicture-likerela<onshiptotheworld.
•  Aristotle’sbeingtheory:truthisexistence.
•  Defla&onarytheory:“P”istrueifandonlyif
P.
Wewilltaketruthataprimi<ve!
WhatisKnowledge?
•  Tradi&onaldefini&on:jus<fiedtruebelief.
•  Reviseddefini&on:properlyjus<fiedtrue
belief.
What(properly)jus<fiesabelief?
Threeviews.
•  Founda&onalism(aboutx):theviewthat
beliefs(aboutx)arejus<fiediftheyare
consequencesof(orotherwisemademore
likelytobetrueby)afounda<onof
indubitable(oratleastverylikelytrue)beliefs.
•  Coheren&sm(aboutx):theviewthatbeliefs
(aboutx)arejus<fiediftheycoherewith
one’sotherbeliefs.
•  Sa<sfac<onofthescien&ficmethod.
Howdowegetknowledge?
Threeviews.
•  Ra&onalism(aboutx):theviewthatknowledge(aboutx)isgained
primarily(orsome<mes:only)throughreason.Ra<onalistsalso
tendtobelievethat:
–  Wehavesomeimportantinnatebeliefs
–  Wecanaccuratelyjudgeourownmentalstates
•  Empiricism(aboutx):theviewthatknowledge(aboutx)is
primarily(orsome<mes:only)gainedthroughexperience.
Empiricistsalsotendtobelievethat:
–  Wedonothaveimportantinnatebeliefs
–  Ourjudgmentsaboutourownmentalstatesarejustasfallibleasour
judgmentsabouttheexternalworld
–  Welearnabouttheworldprimarilybyiden<fyingregulari<esinour
experiences
•  Scien&ficmethod.
Besuretodis<nguishthese
metaphysicalviews!
•  Idealism:theviewthattheworldismadeof
ideas.
•  Materialism/Physicalism:theviewthatthe
worldismadeofmaterialorphysicalthings.
Extremeproper<esthatsome
epistemologicaltheorieshave
•  Rela&vism(aboutx):havinglowepistemic
standards(aboutx),sothatmany(and
perhapsevencontradictory)statements
(aboutx)arebelievedtobetrue.
•  Skep&cism(aboutx):havinghighepistemic
standards(aboutx),sothatfewstatements
(aboutx)arebelievedtobetrue.
Anexampleofafamousskep<cal
argument(DavidHume(1711-1776))
Itappears,then,that[the]ideaofanecessaryconnexionamong
eventsarisesfromanumberofsimilarinstanceswhichoccurofthe
constantconjuc<onoftheseevents….Butthereisnothingina
numberofinstances,differentfromeverysingleinstance,whichis
supposedtobeexactlysimilar;exceptonly,thatacerarepe<<onof
similarinstances,themindiscarriedbyhabit,upontheappearanceof
oneevent,toexpectitsusualadendant,andtobelievethatitwill
exist.Thisconnexion,therefore,whichwefeelinthemind…isthe
sen<mentorimpressionfromwhichweformtheideaofpoweror
necessaryconnexion….Thefirst<meamansawthecommunica<on
ofmo<onbyimpulse,asbytheshockoftwobilliardballs,hecould
notpronouncethattheoneeventswasconnected:butonlythatitwas
conjoinedwiththeother.Acerhehasobservedseveralinstancesof
thisnature,hethenpronouncesthemtobeconnected….Whenwe
say,therefore,thatoneobjectisconnectedwithanother,wemean
onlythattheyhaveacquiredaconnexioninourthought….
NOTE:onecanholdtheseviewsina
limitedway
•  Forexample,itisconsistenttobe,allatonce:
–  Ara<onalistaboutethics
–  Anempiricistaboutphysics
–  Anidealistaboutmathema<cs
–  Amaterialistaboutmindandbody
–  Arela<vistaboutaesthe<cs
–  Askep<cabouttheology….
•  Thatsaid,manyphilosopherstendtodefend
theseviewsinamoreglobalway.
Ibn-Sinaaka“Avicenna”(980-1037AD)
FromOnTheSoul(Fi'-Nafs):
Letussuppose…thatapersoniscreatedinanadultstate,but
insuchacondi<onthatheisborninavoidwherehisbody
cannottouchanythingandwherehecannotperceive
anythingoftheexternalworld.Letusalsosupposethathe
cannotseehisownbodyandthattheorgansofhisbodyare
preventedfromtouchingoneanother,sothathehasno
sense-percep<onwhatsoever.Suchapersonwillnotaffirm
anythingoftheexternalworldoreventheexistenceofhis
ownbodybutwill,nevertheless,affirmtheexistenceofhis
selfasapurelyspiritualen<ty.Now,thatwhichisaffirmedis
certainlynotthesameasthatwhichisnotaffirmed.Themind
is,therefore,asubstanceindependentofthebody.
1.2Founda<onalism
We’vediscussedfounda<onalism
•  Founda&onalism(aboutx):theviewthat
beliefs(aboutx)arejus<fiediftheyare
consequencesof(orotherwisemademore
likelytobetrueby)afounda<onof
indubitableoratleastverylikelytruebeliefs.
Butwhatisa“consequence”?
•  SupposeAandBaregroupsofoneormore
sentences.
•  WesayBisaconsequenceofAjustincase:if
allthesentencesofAaretrue,thenallthe
sentencesofBmustbetrue.
•  Thisisalsosome<mescalled“entailment.”
1.3Coheren<sm
Analterna<vetofounda<onalism
•  Coheren&sm(aboutx):theviewthatbeliefs
(aboutx)arejus<fiediftheycoherewith
one’sotherbeliefs.
“Coherence”defined
(inthestrongestway)
•  By“contradic<on,”wemeantwosentencesthatcannotbothbe
true.Forexample:TomisnowinParisandTomisnotnowinParis.
Therearealsosinglesentencesthatarecontradictory(theseare
sentencesthatcannotbetrue):TomisandisnotnowinParis.
•  AsetofsentencesAiscoherentifthereisnocontradic<oninA(or
intheconsequencesofA).
•  TwosetsofsentencesAandBarecoherentwitheachotherifthere
isnosentenceinA(orconsequenceofthesentencesinA)that
contradictsasentenceinB(orconsequenceofsentencesinB),and
viceversa.
•  (NOTE:definedinthisway,itisunclearwhatitmeanstosay
somethingis“morecoherent”or“lesscoherent.”Perhapsitmeans
itisharderoreasiertoiden<fyacontradic<on,orthat
contradic<onsarelessormorelikelytoariseinawaythatmaders
toyourwork.)
1.4Scien<ficmethod
Anexample:IgnazSemmelweiss
•  1818-1865
•  Studieddeathsin
theVienna
GeneralHospital
from1844-1848
ViennaGeneralHospital
Thedata
•  DeathsofmothersinchildbirthintheFirst
Division:
–  1844:8.2%
–  1845:6.8%
–  1846:11.4%
•  DeathsofmothersinchildbirthintheSecond
Division:
–  1844:2.3%
–  1845:2.0%
–  1846:2.7%
Source:“,”byCarlHempel.
TheHypotheses
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Atmosphericcosmictelluricchanges
Overcrowding
Roughexamina<ons
Thefrighteningpriest’sbell
Layingontheirbacks(nottheirsides)
Theautopsies
TheScien<ficMethod(simplified)
•  Formulateahypothesis.
•  Iden<fyapar<culartestableconsequenceofthehypothesis,andobserve
ifthispredic<oncomestrue.(Thetestmustbesuchthatyoucanshare
theresultswithothers.)
•  Rejectthehypothesisifthepredic<onprovesfalse,andcon<nuetotest
thehypothesisifthepredic<onprovestrue.
•  Betweendifferenthypothesesnotyetrefuted,chose(inorderof
preference):
– 
– 
– 
– 
Theonewiththemostpredic<vepower
Theonethatismostproduc<ve
Theonemostcoherentwithyourothertheories
Thesimplestone
NOTE:Noscien<fictheoryisnecessarilytrue.Eachscien<fictheorymustbe
falisifiable.Whatwecansayinsteadisthatsomeofourscien<fictheories
aretestedandhavebeenshowntobeourbestexplana<ons.
Anotherexample:Tiktaalik
1.4Othermethods?
Mysteriesremain.
Forexample,math.
•  Wearenotsureabouthowwelearncrea<ve
newstepsinmathema<calmethods.
•  Maybera<onalismistrueofmathema<cs?
•  Orsomethingelse?
But!Althoughwedon’tknowhowwe
understandthemethodsofmathema<csand
logic,weconsistentlygetreliableresultsfrom
mathandlogic.Sothemysterydoesnoharm.
Wait!Dophilosophersagreeon
anything?
•  Mostphilosophersagreethat:
–  Scien<ficmethodisareliableguidetolearningaboutmany
physicalphenomena
–  Mathema<calresultsarereliable
–  Logicalmethodsarereliable.
•  (Thereisgreatdisagreementaboutwhatscience,math,
andlogicare,however.)
•  Considertheconsequencesofthisconsensus:
epistemologyismostimportantwhenweeither
-  askaboutthingsthatscienceormathcannotaloneexplain,or
-  askaboutwhatscienceandmathandlogicareandwhythey
work.