PHI 1101 Lecture 6: Chapter 4

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Sascha Maicher

Document Summary

First we judge the source of claims. Where is this information coming from? if you believe the claim, will the person profit from you believing it? (for example, donald trump profits from you believing him, which makes him less credible. ) Next, we have to ask how much do they profit? (an example of this would be to judge what donald. Trump said before his presidential campaign and compare that to what he said during his campaign. If he denied global warming before, and now he accepts it, then he becomes less credible. ) Next we judge the content of the claim. How likely is this claim to be true? if the claim in question conflicts with prior confirmed claims, it becomes less credible. When we doubt credibility, we"re not saying its necessarily false". Less credible simply means that we need to further investigate the claim. Credibility is not to be judged on gut instinct.