Week 5 — Knowledge II: What Knowledge Is
Why this matters
A nursing student reading a chart and a juror weighing a witness both face this week's question: when does a true belief count as knowing, and when is it only luck?
In plain language
This week asks what it takes to really know something, rather than to believe it and happen to be right. A famous answer says knowledge is justified true belief (a belief that is true and that you have good reason to hold). A short paper from 1963 described cases that seem to break that answer, because the belief in them is right only by luck. You also sort knowledge by where it comes from, and you meet three rival accounts of what good reason is. Your goal is to state each view fairly and test it, not to crown a winner.
- Already covered: Weeks 1–4 gave you counterexamples, standard form and validity, Plato's appearances, and Descartes' search for certainty.
- This week: justified true belief, the Gettier cases, a priori and a posteriori, and three theories of justification.
- How they connect: you aim Week 1's counterexample test at a definition.
- Where we're going next: Week 6 begins a new unit and asks what a mind is.
Focus
What is knowledge, and is a justified true belief enough?
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- [ ] check a belief against truth, belief, and justification
- [ ] explain a Gettier case and credit it to Gettier (1963)
- [ ] sort a claim as a priori or a posteriori
- [ ] state foundationalism, coherentism, and reliabilism fairly
To-do
Plan your week
- Read Chapter 5 (~40–50 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
- Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes).
- Do the practice exercises (15–25 minutes).
- Do the Philosophy Workshop (about 90 minutes), discussion, and assignment.
- Take the quiz.
This week's checkpoint: check the trail-sign belief against the three conditions and say why it is right only by luck.
You've got this
Take it in order, and ask your instructor early if stuck.
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