Theories of knowledge and justified belief, including rationalism, empiricism, and classic skeptical challenges.
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- What is epistemology?
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The branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, belief, and justified belief.- What is the traditional definition of knowledge?
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Justified true belief (JTB).- Define justification.
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The property of a belief being supported by adequate reasons or evidence.- What is rationalism?
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The view that knowledge or justified belief comes primarily from reason and innate ideas.- What is empiricism?
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The view that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience.- Name three key rationalist philosophers.
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Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza.- Name three key empiricist philosophers.
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Locke, Hume, and Berkeley.- What is skepticism?
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The position that knowledge or justified belief is impossible or extremely difficult to obtain.- Describe the skeptical argument from illusion.
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Our senses can deceive us, so knowledge based on sensory experience is uncertain.- What is the regress problem for justification?
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If justification requires a reason, and that reason needs justification, then justification either regresses infinitely or must stop somewhere.- What is foundationalism?
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The theory that some beliefs are foundational and self-justifying, while all other beliefs derive justification from them.- What is coherentism?
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The view that a belief is justified when it coheres well with a person's entire system of beliefs.- What is infinitism?
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The view that infinite chains of justifying reasons can properly justify a belief without circularity or a foundation.- What is the Gettier problem?
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Cases where someone has a justified true belief but lacks knowledge because the justification does not appropriately connect to the truth.- Define a priori knowledge.
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Knowledge that does not depend on sensory experience.
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