Hi
I suspect this has been talked about before but hey. how to draw the line between belief and knowledge?
Yan
The line is simple. Belief is what you think is going on, knowledge is when you’re right, when the facts coincide with your beliefs. The trouble is that it is impossible to prove that what you believe does coincide with the facts. Reason, Logic, education, observation… There are lots of tools to use to try to bring your beliefs closer to knowledge, but in the end all you can do is try to ensure the highest probability of accuracy in belief, since there can be no proof.
Kory
I think in a addition to being true belief, knowledge is also said to be true, JUSTIFIED belief, meaning that the belief was arrived at with a valid and sound preponderence of evidence. If the belief is arrived at by chance or faulty logic, but is still true, it is still not knowledge, at least according to some philosophers. This sort of makes sense. If I thought “the earth was round” because I was of the conviction that the earth was a blueberry, and all blueberries are round, it would be hard to call me a knowledgeable man. Not ALL philosophers think justification is important. In fact, most philosophers disagree with what knowledge is, but for the most analytical approach, check out Theory Of Knowledge by Moser, Mulder and Trout, Oxford University Press. Also, Hilary Kornblith, Ernst Sosa, BonJour and countless others. You will find far more information than you ever wanted to know about…wanting to know.
so the line isn’t really that simple after all. skeptically speaking do you think that there really is no such thing as knowledge, that every statement is simply varying degree of probably true belief?
My take is that MAYBE a being can know something, really know it, but probably you won’t, ever, and that’s okay, because it won’t have any bearing on your life, existentially. You’ll let the probable beliefs do what they’re there to do, and chances are they will serve you well. When you die, everything you saw, felt and did, is, to your knowledge, everything there is, and nothing we say or discover about logic or knowledge will ever change that terrible and wonderful inevitability. Having said that, there’s plenty of stuff we can learn to do and we probably should learn it, to make our lives better. I hate when philosophy is lumped because it can’t give absolute knowledge…because it gives a lot of other things that CAN make life better, people more happy, the world more tolerant and functional.
I believe in primary fictions. i.e. 2+2=4, I am here, you are here, the world is three dimensional, time passes. I think there are secondary fictions,i.e., God exists, absolute good exists, everything happens for a reason, and third-level fictions, i.e. astrology is real, my potato is my reincarnated uncle, my butt looks small in these jeans, etc. I think any belief that’s not first level has the potantial to destroy the world in a fiery hell and/or make life a lot easier – handle with care. I like primary fictions, but I make no claim to knowledge or authority. Just the consistent and passionate utilization of my primary fiction beliefs…they may as well be knowledge, to our knowledge, anyway.
My take is that MAYBE a being can know something, really know it, but probably you won’t, ever, and that’s okay, because it won’t have any bearing on your life, existentially. You’ll let the probable beliefs do what they’re there to do, and chances are they will serve you well. When you die, everything you saw, felt and did, is, to your knowledge, everything there is, and nothing we say or discover about logic or knowledge will ever change that terrible and wonderful inevitability. Having said that, there’s plenty of stuff we can learn to do and we probably should learn it, to make our lives better. I hate when philosophy is lumped because it can’t give absolute knowledge…because it gives a lot of other things that CAN make life better, people more happy, the world more tolerant and functional.
I believe in primary fictions. i.e. 2+2=4, I am here, you are here, the world is three dimensional, time passes. I think there are secondary fictions,i.e., God exists, absolute good exists, everything happens for a reason, and third-level fictions, i.e. astrology is real, my potato is my reincarnated uncle, my butt looks small in these jeans, etc. I think any belief that’s not first level has the potantial to destroy the world in a fiery hell and/or make life a lot easier – handle with care. I like primary fictions, but I make no claim to knowledge or authority. Just the consistent and passionate utilization of my primary fiction beliefs…they may as well be knowledge, to our knowledge, anyway.
Real knowledge may possible exist, the trouble is that it cannot be determined as such, using my definition. The other definition for knowledge offered in this thread is what I recommend for valid belief. To have a valid belief, it requires evidence, reason, etc., but I have an objective standard for knowledge that precludes probability and is absolute.
Kory