Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
PHIL EXAM 3
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Practical Knowledge | knowing how to do something |
| Acquaintance Knowledge | direct experience |
| Propositional Knowledge | knowing that something is true |
| Gettier Problem | Justified True Belief ≠ Knowledge (don’t know belief) |
| Reliabilism | Alvin Goldman: Knowledge = belief from reliable processes (reasoning or perception) |
| Rationalism | Knowledge from reason alone (a priori) Math reveals truths about reality |
| Empiricism | Knowledge comes from experience (senses) All ideas originate in perception |
| Nyāya School | Knowledge grounded in perception Inference depends on prior perception |
| John Locke: | Mind = simple ideas (from senses + reflection) → complex ideas Primary qualities: real (size, shape, motion) Secondary qualities: subjective (color, smell, taste) |
| Testimony | Less certain than perception or reasoning Gives probability, not full knowledge |
| Berkeley (Idealism) | Perceptions = only reality (“to be is to be perceived”) All qualities (even primary) depend on the observer We only know our sensations, not external objects ⇒ No proof that material world exists beyond the mind |
| Hume (Empiricism & Skepticism) | ideas come from sense impressions, never perceive causation, only repeated patterns Cause = habit of expectation, not proven connection We assume future = past, but can’t justify it Miracle = violation of natural laws (very unlikely) |
| Descartes (Rationalism & Innate Ideas) | René Descartes: “I think, therefore I am” Knowledge comes from intuition (clear, certain insight) Innate ideas: God, mind, matter |
| Intuition = belief that: | Is clear and distinct Cannot be doubted Not from senses, reasoning, or imagination |
| Plato | Plato: Knowledge = recollection from a perfect prior world We once perceived perfect Forms (e.g., perfect shapes) |
| Leibniz | Innate ideas = inborn tendencies(eat, speak, move) Develop through experience + perception |
| Shankara (Advaita Vedanta) | Adi Shankaracharya: Brahman = only reality World = illusion Self = identical with Brahman |
| Sublation | correcting false perception with a truer one (e.g., mirage) |
| Jain Philosophy | Knowledge is already in the mind before perception Perception reveals this innate knowledge Liberation = removing ignorance → realizing true knowledge |
| Kant Core Idea (Transcendental Idealism) | never know things as they are in themselvesBacon (Inductionism) only know the world as shaped by the mind Mind organizes experience using built-in categories |
| Kant Mind + Experience | Knowledge begins with senses (empiricism) But mind adds a priori structure (rationalism) ⇒ Knowledge = sensations + mental organization |
| Kant Space & Time | Space and time are in the mind, not external things They are preconditions for experiencing objects |
| Kant Causation & Objects | Mind constructs objects from sensations Mind also imposes causality ⇒ Every event we perceive must have a cause |
| Analytic statement | true by definition (no new info) ex: triangles have 3 sides |
| A posteriori statement | known by experience |
| Synthetic A Priori statement | Give real knowledge about world without experience ex: “Every event has a cause” Foundation of science & math |
| David Hume doubted causation & induction | Kant: causation is supplied by the mind, so it is certain |
| Kant’s Unity of Consciousness | perceive objects that change over time but remain the same object. requires mind to receive, remember, connect sensations. all sensations must be unified in one consciousness. ⇒ mind actively organizes experience into single unified world. |
| Kant on Causation & External World | We perceive events as outside us only if they are causally connected Without causation, we couldn’t distinguish external events vs. inner experiences ⇒ The mind imposes causality to construct an external world |
| Kant’s Key Claim | We don’t observe causation (Hume is right) But causation is built into the mind ⇒ All perceived events must have causes, Kant: causal laws come from the mind → must apply to all experience ⇒ We are justified in expecting the future to follow the past |
| Phenomenal world | world as we perceive it (constructed by mind) |
| Noumenal world | world as it is in itself (unknowable) |
| Kant Reason & Science | Even if reality is unperceivable, reason can discover its laws These laws work because the mind builds them into experience |
| Copernican Revolution (Kant) | Kant: world conforms to the mind, not mind to the world |
| Constructivism | Reality (as we know it) is constructed by the mind No access to reality independent of our construction |
| Psychological Constructivism | People build reality using past experiences, meanings, expectations |
| Radical constructivism | only the constructed world is knowable |
| Social Constructivism | Peter L. Berger & Thomas Luckmann: Society collectively constructs reality (shared meanings, institutions) |
| Inductionism (Science) | Science uses inductive reasoning (observations → general laws) Francis Bacon: father of empiricism |
| Bacon (Inductionism) | Science = observation + experiment Collect facts → find patterns → form general laws Move from particulars → general principles |
| John Stuart Mill: | 3 Features of Science: Observation (collect many facts) Generalization (derive laws) Confirmation (test repeatedly → more support) |
| Problems with Induction | Generalizations go beyond observed facts Many different theories can fit the same data More evidence = higher probability, not certainty |
| Whewell (Hypothetical Method) | Science ≠ just generalizing from observations Great advances come from creative hypotheses Hypotheses guide experiments and observations Key point: Reason is central—synthesizing, connecting, and creating ideas before returning to sensory testing |
| Popper (Falsification) | Scientific theories ≠ just confirmed by observations Science = attempt to falsify hypotheses A theory is scientific if it could, in principle, be proven false Surviving repeated falsification attempts = justified confidence |
| Scientific Theories Are Probable | Hypotheses & theories are always provisional New evidence or interpretations can revise or overturn them Predictions may hold, but untested parts could still fail |
| Kuhn (Science as Social Practice) | Scientific knowledge = product of communities of scientists Paradigm = accepted theories + methods of a community Scientists are indoctrinated into the paradigm during training |
| Scientific Revolutions | Science ≠ gradual accumulation (against inductionists/falsificationists) Anomalies = observations that conflict with current theory Crisis → Revolution: new theory replaces old paradigm Older scientists often cling to old theory; younger adopt new |
| Scientific Hypotheses & Method | Incorporates reason (rationalist criteria: simplicity, consistency) Creative reasoning organizes observations into testable theories Experiments must be replicable by others Theories are probable, not certain, always open to revision |
| Criteria for Scientific Theories (Kuhn & Others) | Accurate with observations Consistent with existing scientific theories Broad consequences: explain beyond original phenomena Simplicity: simplest explanation that fits the facts Fruitfulness: guides new research and experiments |
| Winkin | No objective truth Truth = whatever supports a group’s interests or beliefs Without truth, disputes are settled by power/force, not debate |
| Pragmatic | a belief is true if it works or achieves practical results |
| Correspondence | a belief is true if it matches independent facts in reality |
| Key Figures (Correspondence Theory) | Aristotle: truth = statement matches reality Russell: truth = belief matches facts; object terms correspond in structure Chisholm: Searle: facts are real; truth conditions = what must exist in the world for proposition to be true |
| Challenges to Correspondence | We only know our sensations, so cannot verify correspondence Disagreement on what counts as a fact Circularity: “corresponds” relies on knowing facts Negative facts: e.g., “Unicorns do not exist” |
| Coherence Theory of Truth | A belief is true if it fits with a system of accepted beliefs; false if it doesn’t Truth = mutual support among beliefs; one belief makes others more probable |
| Coherence key thinkers | Blanshard: aim of thinking = develop a complete system of truths; new beliefs are true if they fit the system Shankara: Dharmakirti: beliefs from perception are true only if coherent with fuller awareness |
| Coherence issues | Coherent but false systems can exist (e.g., geocentric vs. heliocentric) Individual or group beliefs change over time → truth seems unstable Cannot distinguish true consistency from consistent error Relies on ideal set of beliefs, which is unattainable |
| American pragmatists (e.g., William James) | Rejected correspondence & coherence theories for ignoring human interests Truth depends on practical consequences of believing it Accept beliefs if they produce progressive, harmonious, satisfactory outcomes |
| Modern Pragmatism (Rorty) | what passes a society’s “procedures of justification”. communities have different criteria for distinguishing true/false. Truth is practical and socially justified, what a community justifies may not match reality. |
| relativist stance: | truth is relative to a community’s justification procedures. Not absolute relativism: not all beliefs are equally valid; only those accepted by justified procedures count. |
| Instrumentalist view of science: | Scientific theories are considered “true” only insofar as they work for predictions. Does not claim literal truth for unobservable entities ( electrons) Unobservable entities are useful fictions: they help predict outcomes, not describe reality exactly. |
| Realist (Correspondence) View | Science aims to describe reality accurately. Entities and properties exist independently of our beliefs. A scientific theory is true if it corresponds to the actual properties, entities, and relationships in the world. explain, not predict |
| Conceptual Relativism | Thomas Kuhn. Scientific “truth” is defined by acceptance within a community of scientists. Truth is socially constructed within the scientific community: a theory is true if it fits the accepted conceptual framework. |
Created by:
user-1934014