Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [knowledge]

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education.

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Could 'cogito ergo sum' possibly be false?

I've heard it postulated by some people that "we can't truly know anything". While that does seem to apply to the vast majority of things, I can't see how 'cogito ergo sum' can possibly be false. No matter what I am, no matter in what way I'm…
Jez
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Are there any philosophers that argued for knowledge having intrinsic value?

Many (if not most) philosophers agree that knowledge has value. However, does it have intrinsic value, or is its value purely in its ability to affect things outside of the realm of knowledge? Are there some philosophers who would state,…
Cort Ammon
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What is the difference between knowledge and belief?

Sometimes this image is used to explain what agnosticism is and how it's independent from belief: It makes some sense but I still have confusion understanding it. What is the difference between knowledge and belief? Image source: "Agnosticism" on…
CiscoIPPhone
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When given limited information, is the simplest solution that matches that information most likely correct?

Is there any basis in philosophy for the idea that when given limited information, the simplest solution that matches that information should be presumed correct or most likely to be correct? For example, a complete search is conducted in the space…
alan2here
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Is the concept of “knowledge” important for philosophy?

I learned the definition of “knowledge” of justified true belief. I wonder whether it is important in any branch of philosophy? If I think about information per se, this boils down to technical details which are analyzed in mathematics and computer…
scravy
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How can I develop my critical thinking skills?

I am a freshman engineering student going to college. I want to learn how to think critically and to become a critical thinker and a sharp arguer. I am interested in philosophy, because I am curious about the world, creationism, and everything, and…
Andy
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How did Kant define knowledge?

A recent question about the Plato's formula K=JTB (knowledge is justified true belief) made me curious as to what Kant thought on the matter. In the prefaces and the Introduction to the first Critique knowledge is mentioned in every other paragraph,…
Conifold
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Was Locke right that analytic knowledge is vacuous?

According to Locke, it is impossible to obtain substantive knowledge from analytic propositions. Statements like "triangle has three sides" are analytic, but one cannot derive the Pythagorean Theorem analytically. However, Frege says that…
Tom
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Does languange somehow filter what we can know?

I've read a proposition somewhere: That our languange acts as a filter, allowing us to know certain things while making it impossible to know the rest(1). It seems that mathematics has some things like this, certain phenomena could only be explained…
Red Banana
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In what fundamental ways, if any, does Husserl break with Kant?

I've read only slim secondary works on Husserl some time ago, and recently started "The Crisis in the European Sciences." So far, the framework seems faithfully Kantian. Husserl, for example, describes geometry as a priori constructions "filling…
Nelson Alexander
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Do machine learning algorithms have knowledge (if not justified true beliefs)?

By "machine learning algorithm" I'm referring to basic, primarily statistical, machine learning algorithms; for concrete examples consider simple classifier algorithms like SVM or Bayesian classifier or decision trees. I'm stipulating that these…
Dave
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How does Robert Nozick explain the Gettier problem?

Nozick agrees that the Gettier counterexamples to the JTB analysis of knowledge are cases where someone has a JTB but does not know. What is his explanation of what has gone wrong in those cases? Specifically what conditions in Nozick’s account of…
Kevin Davis
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Are all facts worth knowing?

It is generally considered beneficial to discover some scientific law or invent an object that is said to further the state of mankind. All inventions and scientific discovery hinges in some way on past knowledge. Since knowledge is so instrumental…
Zach Rattner
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The non-existence of Gettier problems in Indo-Tibetan epistemology

Reading the paper Gettier and Factivity in Indo‐Tibetan Epistemology the author claims at some point early in the paper that There are two initial problems which make it difficult to compare factive assessment with true belief and the Gettier…
Gabriel
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What are the critiques of the "we might as well assume it" solution to the problem of induction?

I'm curious whether the following proposed solution to the problem of induction has ever been discussed in the literature: Either the future resembles the past or it does not resemble the past. If it does not resemble the past, then all predictions…
Craig Feinstein
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