1. Class Posts
1.1. 1. Learning is essential for knowledge
1.1.1. People need to learn to acquire knowledge
1.1.2. To to this we must learn through our actions.
1.2. 2. Defining Knowledge
1.2.1. Very difficult to come up with a definition of knowledge
1.2.2. Knowledge encompasses many ideas and it is hard to determine exactly what characterizes it.
1.2.3. The idea of what knowledge can mean different things to different people.
1.3. 3. The question of 'truth'
1.3.1. People can have different ideas of what is true and what is not.
1.3.2. Truth is determined by a person's beliefs.
1.3.3. Who determines what is really true?
1.3.4. Knowledge, and therefore truth, can be subjective
1.3.5. What the majority believes to be true is in constant flux - the earth was once flat, now it is round.
1.3.6. Groups of like-minded people can help reinforce their own concepts of truth, and therefore knowledge.
2. Pritchard
2.1. 1. Propositional and Ability Knowledge
2.1.1. Propositional Knowledge - A statement of knowledge that one believes is true.
2.1.2. Ability Knowledge - the knowledge of knowing how to do something.
2.2. 2. Methodism
2.2.1. Identifying the criteria for knowledge through philosophical reflection
2.2.2. We find that philosophers have had a very difficult time pinpointing what criteria can be used to determine what unequivocal knowledge truly is.
2.3. 3. Classical Account of Knowledge
2.3.1. For someone to have knowledge they must have a justified, TRUE belief about the topic, with good reason for believing it is true.
2.3.2. The Gettier cases however cast doubt on the classical account of knowledge by demonstrating that someone can have a good reason to believe something is true even when is isn't.
2.3.3. Pritchard however, fails to focus on the problem of determining what is true.
2.3.4. Pritchard does touch on the subject in Chapter one decribing truth as objective based on a 'common sense' view of truth.
2.3.5. This view holds that just because one believes something to be true, that doesn't mean it is - the class discussions seem to counter this argument.
2.3.6. Pritchard reveals that he will come back to this topic later on in the book