StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Justified True Belief (JTB): Can It Be Considered Knowledge? Immediately, JTB could be perceived as knowledge, because chat else could it be? The mere fact that a belief is true and justified means it is valid. Therefore, it is proven true, and knowledge is truth…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.2% of users find it useful
Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge"

Download file to see previous pages

Nonetheless, such engagement can also bring one to learn more about knowledge – a term ordinarily thought synonymous with the word ‘know’, when not everything we know constitutes knowledge, not even a JTB? JTB is composed of three concepts – belief, truth and justifiedness. Most basic of which is the understanding of belief, as the question of knowledge here is actually related with belief. To rephrase the main question, if JTB can be considered knowledge, would be: Can belief be qualified as knowledge if it is proven justifiably true?

From this question, it can be inferred that not all beliefs can be considered knowledge and that even JTB can be doubted as knowledge. Essentially so, the main question centres on understanding what knowledge is. But since the question of knowledge here is limited only in qualifying JTB as knowledge or not, the discussion would only be limited in understanding philosophical views that either affirm or negate JTB as knowledge. So the discussion shall focus only on understanding when a belief is justifiably true; when JTB cannot be considered knowledge; and when JTB can be considered knowledge.

Justified True Belief Belief is something we accept to be real or true. . Of these, perceptual belief is most common, because we easily believe on the existence of things that are perceivable – these are called sense data. These sense data make us believe on the existence of things. For example, we believe in flowers because we see, smell and touch them. In fact, the first and immediate way for us in knowing about the things around us is making use of our five senses (Huemer 2002, p. 27). We come to know first about flowers not through books but through seeing one; we come to differentiate between sweet and bitter not through others testimony but through our sense of taste; we come to know pain and relief because we felt it; we come to know about odours because we smell them; and we come to know about sounds because we hear them – these perceptual experiences we have everyday made us believe on their existence.

But not everything we perceive necessarily constitutes what we believe. There are some things we perceive that we may not believe nor care to believe. For example, we see a horse in a painting. Although we know what a horse look like, we do not believe that the horse in the painting is a real horse knowing that works of art, like painting, are basically imitations of the real world or representations of the painter’s perception, feelings or thought (Sheppard 1987, p. 4). On the other hand, not everything we believe may be true, because we are imperfect not only in our perceptions but also in what we remember, on how we reason out, and in other things that we do; so, it is most probable that we can be deceived by our own senses (Audi 2003, p. 8), which under various circumstances can perform differently.

For example, if you are colour-blind, you are

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge Essay”, n.d.)
Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1441728-discuss-whether-justified-true-belief-can-be
(Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge Essay)
Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge Essay. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1441728-discuss-whether-justified-true-belief-can-be.
“Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1441728-discuss-whether-justified-true-belief-can-be.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Discuss Whether Justified True Belief Can Be Considered Knowledge

Ways of Knowing and the Truth

This is referred to as the "tripartite theory of knowledge" or "knowledge" is "justified true belief" (Holt 1).... This essay discusses the concept of 'Truth' and 'knowledge' and then take a look at the four main 'ways of knowing,' their strengths and weaknesses.... rdquo; This research will begin with the statement that the quest for knowledge and its acquisition since time immemorial, continues till date, because, knowledge has helped man conduct his life better and thereby empowered him in many ways....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Knowledge is the True Organ of Sight

Plato defines knowledge as 'justified true belief'.... A "belief" is a state of mind, which can be shown by behaviour, without any corresponding "mental" occurrence.... This does not truly justify that knowledge is true belief.... The essay "knowledge is the True Organ of Sight" discusses this explanation cannot be termed as definite because the result of the behavior or action determines if the belief held was true or false....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

What Are Philosophy, Logic, and Epistemology

Paley states the human eye has many intricate parts that fit together and therefore should be considered to be designed, thus requiring a God-figure to serve as the designer of the eye.... (a) Etymologically, philosophy means the love of knowledge, and in its broadest sense should considered to be the search for wisdom.... The purpose of philosophy is to attempt to encourage investigations into areas which people have insufficient knowledge,… (q) What is logic?...
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Philosophy-Contemporary Ethical Theory4

It is not possible to define the color yellow, but only by showing someone an example can the color yellow or similarly the concept of goodness be explained (Oliphant & Mayled: 10).... Meta-ethics is about normative ethics, and it is about making sense of the terms and concepts used (Oliphant & Mayled: 6). A central The ethical realist believes that ethical statements are descriptions of the states of the world, hence are like other fact-stating assertions, true or false independently of the beliefs of the speaker (O' Neill: 163)....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

Are Some Ways Of Knowing More Likely Than Others To Lead To The Truth

describes the concept of 'Truth' and 'knowledge' and the four main 'ways of knowing,' their strengths and weaknesses.... nbsp;… While some may hold that knowledge is nothing but the truth, some others have given importance to the various branches of knowledge and their applications, and quite a few other philosophers have pondered over the epistemology itself, regarding its sources; constituent elements; ways of acquiring knowledge, and so on....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Reason and Experience: A Question of Knowledge

Plato seemed to have the correct response by claiming it to be “justified true belief”, according to his dialogue the Theaetetus in which Socrates contends that belief is dissimilar to knowledge because of justification (Plato).... However, this misinterpretation of Plato, who thought knowledge was actually a matter of recollection, became all but abandoned after a paper named “Is justified true belief Knowledge?... In it, Gettier proposed two counterexamples to “justified true belief”, one of which will concern us here....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Premise and Philosophy of Knowledge Focusing on Vocabulary

"The Premise and Philosophy of knowledge Focusing on Vocabulary" paper discusses the knowledge of vocabulary and the speculations about it from a variety of perspectives.... The paper examines the definition of knowledge centering on vocabulary and the relationship between ideology and worldview.... nbsp; Moreover, if knowledge is considered, this would be a more complicated task for often the vocabulary one has served more than what that person is trying to express; it can even aid an individual to know what he or she deems necessary to know....
10 Pages (2500 words) Coursework

Knowledge Is Nothing More than a Systemic Representation of Facts

Hence, this shows that knowledge cannot be considered as a representation of facts rather a symbol of what is perceived whereas ignorance is an indication of what is not perceived.... The word systematic itself raises a topic of debate as it can be influenced by many different aspects such as culture, it can also be individual or universal and the system to be used and for what area of knowledge this system can be applied.... However, this theory can be contradicted in two different areas of knowledge....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us