The Nature of Knowledge Justified True Belief?

Introduction Knowledge a difficult concept Understood through experience and reflection Accepted as justified true belief Three elements

Truth Distinguishes between knowledge and belief Cannot know that the Earth is flat, but can believe it if you really want to Used to believe the planets orbiting around the earth; truth was wrong But knowledge requires something less than certainty Truth is “beyond a reasonable doubt”

Belief Know something, must also believe it Subjective Knowledge most effectively defined in belief-knowledge continuum Three examples of belief Vague Well-supported Beyond reasonable doubt

Belief-Knowledge Continuum Work with your table partner to assign values to the following propositions on the -10 to +10 scale. Columbus discovered America in 1492 If A is bigger than B and B is bigger than C, then A is bigger than C Human beings are descended from apes Murder is wrong Aliens have visited the earth at some time during its history All metals expand when heated Human beings have an immortal soul It is possible to construct a square with the same area as a given circle

Justification Belief must also be justified in some sensible way Give examples with the eight ways of knowing i.e. I saw it (sense perception) Some kinds of justification acceptable (perception), some not (telepathy) Reliability Justification may also depend on context How serious must your answer be taken in court/life or death versus the lunchroom Taking responsibility matters

Levels of Knowledge First-hand, second-hand Much of what we claim to know we do not understand in great detail Depends on depth of study May be revisited over time Information arguably more limited than knowledge Passing exam just be cramming, did you really learn?

Second-hand Knowledge Main source of knowledge is other people, shared experiences through knowledge Culture one of the main ways Building upon previous discoveries in science Must be careful to avoid authority worship Second-hand sources Cultural tradition, school, Internet, expert opinion, news media Positive and negative aspects of each?

Discussion Questions What about you has been determined by your culture? What other influences are there? What opinions, if any, are teachers expected to keep silent about, and to what extent can this be justified? What qualities would you look for if you were looking to appoint a new teacher? If you were asked to design a curriculum for students aged 14 to 18, what would you include/focus on? Is there expert opinion in all areas of knowledge or only some of them? Why?

Limitations of Second-hand Knowledge Never an original source Claims only justified by perception, reason, intuition When would you trust the authority of other people rather than your own sense?

Presentations of Knowledge Research a quote that contains the word knowledge and construct a 5-slide presentation on its meaning. Show how this quote relates to course material to this point. Discuss any implications this quote may have on knowing and provide real-life examples that reflect its nature.