The commonly accepted definition of knowledge, according to the Philosophy Toolkit, is "justified true belief". However, the Toolkit does not provide a concrete definition of the term 'justified' as it is used here. Justification seems, to me, a subjective sort of word, particularly when it is being utilised in such a definitive, logical context as this. Without further clarification, people could argue that they know a deity exists because they have had dreams about one, or know that one does not exist because there is no empirical evidence to suggest other wise. They could claim to know that someone is going to act a certain way, because they believe that their prior experiences watching this person's actions are enough to justify that belief - yet clearly, this is not an example of knowledge but of educated guessing.
As my current philosophical standpoint is considerably fallibilistic, I do not think that there is any justification sufficient to constitute a one hundred percent certainty, and as such no one can actually know anything. However, for the purposes of this toolkit, a less skeptical idea of justification might be appropriate. Whatever the definition, it might be helpful to present it in the section on knowledge.
Exactly right. The nature of justification is the central problem of contemporary epistemology.
ReplyDelete