1. The Nature of Knowledge

2. Justified true belief
The standard definition of knowledge dating back to the time of Plato ( BCE)—to know that something is true we not only have to believe it but also need to have justification for our belief
If you claim to know something, than what you claim to know must not only be true, but you must also believe it to be true.

3. Three types of belief A vague belief A well-supported belief
I might believe something but have no idea where I came across the idea and readily abandon it in light of counter-evidence
A well-supported belief
I might believe something and be able to give evidence for my belief, but still be unwilling to say that I know that this is true.
A belief that is beyond reasonable doubt
I may find evidence which supports a claim so convincing and the counter-evidence so flimsy that I am willing to say that I know this is true.

4. Justification
In order to say you know something you must be able to justify your belief
The key that separates acceptable and unacceptable justification is reliability
Another key is context: How important is it that you definitely “know” something. Is it life altering?
What does it mean to justify your belief?

5. Knowledge or information?
Having mere facts about a subject is simply information
Having understanding of relationships to form a meaningful whole is knowledge
Having information is like having bricks to build a building
It doesn’t look like much until you put it all together
To have knowledge you need to think about the information and see how it all fits together

6. Activity
What is the difference between knowing, in the sense of understanding, and knowing in the sense of being able to recite the relevant facts and theories without understanding them?

7. Types of knowledge Knowledge by acquaintance Practical knowledge
First-hand knowledge based on experience
Held by empiricists to be the basis of all knowledge
Practical knowledge
Skills-based knowledge – “know how”: you may have taken lessons to learn to do something
Knowledge by description
Second-hand knowledge, usually comes in the form of language, you know something because you heard about it

8. Knowledge by Acquaintance
Acquaintance with things is a basic ingredient from which we build knowledge
There is a difference between acquaintance and description
Read about the rainforest (description)
Visit the rainforest (acquaintance)

9. Relationship between Acquaintance and Description
Description depends on acquaintance
You must be able to trace your knowledge of something back to someone that has first-hand experience
Acquaintance spills beyond description
Cannot capture fully our first-hand experiences with language
Description colors acquaintance
You will see things differently if they have been described to you in advance
Acquaintance fades with time
First-hand experiences fade in our memory over time and can be replaced by general descriptions which simplify or distort them

10. Activity Try describing the following experiences:
The taste of an onion
A toothache
The smell of freshly cut grass
Hunger
The smell of rain on a hot, humid day
The sound of a baby crying

11. Practical knowledge “Knowledge of the hand”
Real test of knowledge could be to put what you have learned into practice by applying it to the real world
Plays a role in areas of knowledge
The arts: knowing how to draw, or play a musical instrument
Language: being able to communicate with people
The sciences: being able to perform an experiment
Ethics: how you live your life

12. Doing and explaining Difficult to put doing into words
Hard to write simple instructions
Following those instructions can be difficult
We can still benefit from verbal guidance
May need to be combined with demonstration

13. Theory and practice Cannot acquire know-how without practice
Deliberative practice
Break task into chunks
Practice your weaknesses
You still need theory, however, to be really good at what you do
Rules are important in some cases
Use of “training wheels” develops muscle memory
Being able to perform a physical activity without thinking about it

14. Analysis paralysis Over-thinking a task
Also known as “choking” (sometimes used to refer to sports teams or athletes)

15. Assessing know-how Justification of know-how Successful performance
Be successful consistently, not just once
Standard of excellence
How do you measure up to the people who perform your skill at the top level
Conscious awareness
You must “know” what you are doing-be aware