A summary of Knowledge First Approaches in Epistemology and Mind

-

In the paper “Knowledge First: Approaches in Epistemology and Mind”, it is noted justified true belief analysis of knowledge has been bought down by Edmund Gettier. The authors posit a knowledge first approach to overcome this with two different constructions- representational and metaphysical. Representational knowledge comes through conceptual analysis, the concept of knowledge not being reducible to other concepts that are necessary and sufficient for its application, rather it is a part in analyses of other mental concepts. This conception of knowledge is primitive because of it not being analysable in terms of other concepts. By contrast metaphysical knowledge is where you do not know because of knowledge being in certain other mental states, rather, one is in certain other mental states because of knowing. An example to demonstrate this is that you do know you are happy because you are in a state of happiness, rather you are happy because you know something that is making you happy.

The authors delve into what it is to perceive an object, claiming that there is a causal condition on object perception, giving an example that “S perceives o only if o causes an experience in S” and further note that this is not enough on its own to have this necessary condition for object perception. The metaphysical explanation of object perception needs conditions on the right-hand side of the biconditional that are not themselves explained in terms of object perception, as one is perceiving through knowledge rather than seeing object and inferring knowledge. Holding to representational knowledge object perception cannot be reduced to other forms of mental concept, rather it is a part in analyses of other mental concepts.

The metaphysical knowledge approach holds that knowledge is first among epistemic states when ordered in relation to metaphysical explanation, knowledge being a general factive mental state for example remembering that I have a dog or regretting that I have a dog entails that I know I have a dog. This knowledge first approach is credited to Timothy Williams.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Karl Rahner's The Trinity

-
Image
I found Karl Rahner's The Trinity, to be highly engaging, picking up and dealing with a lot of the issues I myself have seen in Christians conception of God as Triune. The work has many criticisms for the way in which Christians have dealt with the doctrine of the Trinity and it is a work I suggest you read if you have not. In his work “The Trinity” Rahner develops a doctrine of the Trinity. Rahner does this for two reasons: lack of emphasis on God as trinity and false tritheist and modalist attempts to understand the trinity. Rahner claims that Christian’s in their practical Christian life are for the most part mere ‘monotheists’, if the doctrine of the trinity were to be dropped   the vast majority of Christian literature remaining untouched. Rahner thinks this is the case because of the Christian emphasis of God becoming man rather than the man Jesus being God. This entails that the Trinity is not a necessity as God would still be able to become man, something every day
Read more

Part three on the Logical Problem of the Trinity: The Twofoldness of Divine Truth, Attempts to Reconcile apparent Biblical Contradictions and Bayesian arguments for God being essentially twofold in his nature. Suggested further reading and bibliography over all three blogposts at the end

-
This is part three of a blog related to the Logical Problem of the Trinity: part one and two avaliable here  https://theologyphilosophyscience.blogspot.com/2020/06/modalism-tritheism-and-co-inherence-as.html   https://theologyphilosophyscience.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-logical-problem-of-trinity-and.html The Twofoldness of Divine Truth Having assessed the most popular models of the Trinity intended to solve the logical problem of the Trinity and found them at best unpersuasive and at worst opening the possibility to heresy, I will now present an alternative approach. Modalism and tritheism are two extremes, taking an unbalanced approach to the truth revealed in the Bible. Modalism takes God being one and pushes it to a heretical extreme and tritheism takes God being three and pushes it to a heretical extreme. The twofoldness of divine truth avoids the extremes and Kangas notes it allows one to “maintain a testimony faithful to the whole truth of God’s revelation in the Scriptu
Read more

Part one on the Logical Problem of the Trinity: Modalism, Tritheism and Co-inherence as the way to avoid heretical extremes

-
This is the first part of a blog related to the Logical Problem of the Trinity Modalism Modalism holds that the three of the Trinity Father, Son and Spirit are purely adjectival being “three successive manifestations of God, or three temporary modes of his activity” (Chadwick, 1968). This denies that God in his own inner being is triune. Rather, it claims that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are either temporary or successive roles adopted by God in carrying out the divine plan of redemption and that they in no way correspond to anything in the ultimate nature of the Godhead (Chadwick, 1968). Modalism does not recognize Christ’s independent personality but sees his incarnation as a mode of the existence or manifestation of the Father (Bethune-Baker, 1929) (Kangas,1976). Modalists hold the “Father, Son and Spirit only refer to the way in which God reveals himself but bear no relation to his inner being” (Bruce, 1953). Sabellius (fl. ca. 215) was, by far, the most original, profo
Read more