THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE
TUESDAY APRIL 23, 2002

FIRST MID-TERM~ Thurs. 4/25 (after class)- Wed. 5/1 (8:00pm)
Lab closed Fri. 4/26
~Study Guide handed out.
~Read chapter 4 for Thursday (Tuesday at the latest)
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Review of Study Guide:
What is epistemology? The theory of knowledge.
What place does it hold in Philosophy? The foundation.
What is the difference between a sentence, a belief and a proposition?
S= linguistic B= mental P= expressions of S and B.
What is the correspondence theory of truth? The truth is “what is”, it corresponds with
reality.
~it differs from justification, by not needing justification.
~it differs from knowledge by not being universally accepted.
Under this theory is knowledge necessarily true? No.

What is the relativist conception of truth? That truth=perception/belief, something
true for me may not be true for you.
~adversarial vs. collaborative approach to truth
*skeptics say: withhold judgment about appearances and you won’t end up with
false beliefs.
*relativists say: the appearances are true~for you!
What are some reasons for rejecting this theory? It’s confusing and contradictory.

What is the coherence theory of truth? To say something is true is to say it coheres to
a system of prepositions ( in context.)
What might it be a good theory for? Knowledge or justification.

What is the pragmatic theory of truth? The truth is whatever works, whatever is
Useful.
What good idea does this suggest? That having the correct beliefs may not always
be the most important thing.
What underlying confusion does it express? This theory is confusing truth and
justification.
SOME QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:

1. Are relativists confused skeptics?
2. Are relativists trying to misguidedly promote tolerance?
3. Do relativists give up on objective truth (skepticism) but then embrace subjective
Truth?
4. Can you have passion about a provisional belief?