PHIL 240 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Academic Skepticism, Evil Demon, Coherentism
Document Summary
Metaphysics: the truths about way things really are, even if no one knows. Epistemology: our epistemic access to that truth (cid:498)(ow do you know what to believe as true? (cid:499) Proposition: the meaning of a sentence, a fact is a true proposition. Objectivity: the nature of reality does not guarantee our epistemic access to it. True because of the way the world is. *difference between knowing and believing: to know something it has to be true. So, belief and truth = requirements for knowledge. Justified belief: a belief that, from an epistemic point of view, it is reasonable or rational to have. Not quite the same as whether belief is true. Criterion of truth: rule we should use to figure out what to accept. Historical roots in ancient greece; pyrrho (make no conclusions, doubt everything) Approximate view that there is no knowledge (radical) Academic skepticism: (cid:498)knowledge is impossible(cid:499); problematic because you can(cid:495)t know that knowledge is impossible.
