Epistemology

I'm starting this topic with notes on Robert Audi's Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, 3rd Edition.

Front Matter

Introduction

Perception, belief, and justification

Epistemology is the theory of knowledge and justification.

Perceptions through the senses can be justification for beliefs, {1} and justified beliefs are a goal in epistemology. {2}

Justification as process, as status, and as property

Justification is a concept with several meanings that have subtle differences.

If a belief is natural to believe, if someone can believe it without being intellectually lazy, deceptive, and so on, then the belief has the property of being justified.

If a belief is justified for someone, then they are justified in believing it--that is, it is something they should believe because of the position they're in--whether they actually do believe it or not. We can call this situational or propositional justification. {2-3}

If someone does believe a justified belief, then we say they justifiedly believe it. {2} We can call this belief or doxastic justification. It is grounded in situational justification. {3-4}

If someone gives reasons for believing something, that belief is undergoing a process of justification. {2}

Perception may be our most basic source of knowledge, at least in childhood. {4}

Knowledge and justification

Knowledge of something is grounded in the same thing that justifies the belief in it. But knowledge and justified belief are different. Knowledge is justified belief that is true. {4}

Memory, introspection, and self-consciousness

Memory beliefs are justified, but we're less confident in them the less vivid the memory.

At a low level of confidence, we can take a position of non-belief toward a proposition. We can entertain, consider, and suspend judgment on it without believing or disbelieving it.

Forming memory beliefs can involve examining your own consciousness for imagery, which is a type of introspection. Knowing you are doing this is a case of self-knowledge. {4}

Reason and rational reflection

Some beliefs are based on understanding abstract concepts, such as geometry. These concepts seem to firmly justify the beliefs and to form a basis for knowledge. {5}

Testimony

According to the commonsense view, justified belief and knowledge about general facts can be based on either generalizations from one's own perceptions or from the testimony of others or both. Of course, our own faculties are still involved in knowing through testimony, since we must perceive the testimony and store it in memory. {6}

Basic sources of belief, justification, and knowledge

These are called perceptual, memorial, introspective, a priori, inductive, and testimony-based beliefs.

The basic kinds of belief are perceptual, memorial, introspective, and a priori.

The belief that I'm imagining a green field could be introspective because it's based on looking within, but since it doesn't require special concentration, it could simply be self-directed.

A priori beliefs arise in an intuitive way.

{7} Generalizations from more basic beliefs are inductive.

The basic kinds of belief are grounded in the sources they arise from.

These sources provide the raw materials for inductive generalizations.

Testimony can be a source for any kind of belief.

Presumably knowledge gained through testimony is ultimately grounded in a basic source.

Three kinds of grounds of belief

There are at least three ways beliefs are grounded in a source:

Causal := the experience produces the belief.

Justificational := the experience justifies the belief.

Epistemic := the belief constitutes knowledge in virtue of the experience.

They often coincide, and in those cases we can simply say the belief is grounded in the source.

{8} They go with common questions:

Causal: Why do you believe that?

Justificational: Why should I accept that?

Epistemic: How do you know that?

A belief can be caused by a source without being justified (e.g., brain manipulation).

A belief can be justified situationally even while being caused by something else that doesn't justify it (e.g., justified by testimony but caused by brain manipulation).

Sometimes knowledge must be grounded in a causal ground.

A justificational ground may not be an epistemic ground. You can justifiedly believe something without knowing it {Do you mean if it's not true?}.

Fallibility and skepticism

Our sources of belief are fallible. How do we know they aren't likely to be mistaken?

{9} 'We stake our lives on beliefs we take to be knowledge. It would be unsettling to say that we merely justifiedly believe them. It would produce a crisis to conclude that they aren't even justified.'

For now we'll assume that beliefs based on perception, memory, consciousness, reason, and testimony can be justified and constitute knowledge. This happens in many kinds of circumstances, and we'll explore how beliefs are related to these sources.

Overview

Chapters 1-7 (Part One) explore and compare the basic sources of belief, justification, and knowledge.

Part Two discusses the development and structure of knowledge and justification.

Chapter 8 explores how inference and other developmental processes expand our body of konwledge and justified beliefs.

{10} What structure does this body of knowledge have, and how does the structure relate to the amount and kind of knowledge and justification it contains?

Part Three discusses what justification and knowledge are and what kinds of things can be known.

Chapter 12 explores the apparent extent of knowledge and justification in the scientific, ethical, and religious territories.

Chapters 13-14 discuss whether skepticism is justified. If it is, we must revise the commonsense assessment of the extent of knowledge and justification in Chapters 1-12.

Knowledge and justification represent positive values in the life of a reasonable person. We want to know many things and to be justified in what we believe and to know if others are justified in what they tell us.

{11} Well-developed concepts of knowledge and justification can be ideals. We can try to attain justification and knowledge and avoid claiming them when they aren't available.