1
Q
what are the three branches of knowledge
A
- ability knowledge
- acquaintance knowledge
- propositional knowledge
2
Q
what is ability knowledge
A
knowing how to do something
3
Q
what is propositional knowledge
A
knowing that some proposition is true or false (knowing that)
4
Q
what is acquaintance knowledge
A
knowing through direct contact
5
Q
proposition
A
- what is being asserted by a declarative sentence
- anything that can follow I believe/know or it is true or false that
6
Q
knowledge is important because:
A
- important for survival and meeting our needs
- it is central to science and technology
- plays an important role in society and communication (the want to identify people with knowledge)
- satisfies instinctive curiosity
7
Q
Linda Zagzebski
A
- Zagzebski said that defining something involves finding necessary and sufficient conditions
- she refers to Locke’s distinction between real definition and nominal definition
- Zagzebski is not sure that knowledge has a real definition but believes we should try and find one because that is likely to be the only way prove it doesn’t have one
8
Q
real definition
A
something with real essence, a particular thing (eg gold)
9
Q
nominal definition
A
something without real essence (eg an adult, the concept of adulthood is a social construction)
10
Q
Zagzebski’s pitfalls to avoid when questioning theories
A
- circular: defining something in terms of itself
- obscure: the definition is less well understood than what is being defined
- negative: defining something by what it is not
- ad hoc: the definition (or part of it) is only there to meet a particular problem
11
Q
necessary
A
- A is necessary for B
- means you must have A in order to have B
- eg potatoes are necessary for a roast dinner
- only if A then B = A is necessary for B
12
Q
sufficient
A
- A is sufficient for B
- if you have A, you are guaranteed to have B
- eg being the eldest child of the monarch is sufficient for being the heir to the throne
- if A then B = A is sufficient for B
