epistemological shift pros and cons

In this sense, the history of thought can be seen as the sometimes imperceptibly fluid, sometimes bizarre and abrupt, movements of our concepts. If so, why, and if not why not? In a given context, then, one understands some subject matter P only if one approximates fully comprehensive and maximally well-connected knowledge of P closely enough that one is sufficiently likely to successfully perform any task relating to P that is determined by the context, assuming that one has the skills needed to do so and to exercise them in suitably favorable conditions. So the kind of knowledge that it provides is metaknowledgeknowledge about knowledge. This holds regardless of whether we are Platonists or nominalists about such entities. However, epistemologists have recently started to turn more attention to the epistemic state or states of understanding, asking questions about its nature, relationship to knowledge, connection with explanation, and potential status as a special type of cognitive achievement. He argues that what is grasped or seen when one attains a priori knowledge is not a proposition but a certain modal relationship between properties, objects or identities. Analyzes Kvanvigs Comanche case and argues that knowledge and understanding do not come apart in this example. For, even if understanding why 22=4 does not require a grasp of any causal relation, it might nonetheless involve a grasp of some kind of more general dependence, for instance the kind of dependence picked out by the metaphysical grounding relation. Although, many commentators suggest that understanding requires something further, that is something in additional to merely knowing a proposition or propositions, Grimm thinks we can update the knowledge of causes view so that this intuition is accommodated and explained. There is little work focusing exclusively on the prospects of a non-factive construal of understanding-why; most authors, with a few exceptions, take it that understanding-why is obviously factive in a way that is broadly analogous to propositional knowledge. Argues that understanding (unlike knowledge) is a type of cognitive achievement and therefore of distinctive value. Whitcomb, D. Epistemic Value In A. Cullison (ed. Contains the famous counterexamples to the Justified True Belief account of knowledge. ), Knowledge, Virtue and Action. butterfly pea flower vodka cocktail Anasayfa; aware super theatre parking. Argues against compatibility between understanding and epistemic luck. In contrast with Pritchards partial compatibility view of the relationship between understanding and epistemic luck, where understanding is compatible with environmental but not with intervening luck, Rohwer (2014) defends understandings full compatibility with veritic epistemic luck (that is, of both intervening and environmental varieties). This allows the agent to produce a slightly different mental representation of the subject matter that enables efficacious inferences pertaining to (or manipulations of) the subject matter. Pritchard (2008: 8) points out thatfor exampleif one believes that ones house burned down because of the actions of an arsonist when it really burnt down because of faulty wiring, it just seems plain that one lacks understanding of why ones house burned down. This is the idea that one has shifted, or changed, the way he or she takes in knowledge. There is debate about both (i) whether understanding-why might fairly be called explanatory understanding and (ii) how understanding-why might differ from propositional knowledge. epistemological shift pros and cons - hashootrust.org.pk Elgin (2007), like Zagzebski, is sympathetic to a weak factivity constraint on objectual understanding, where the object of understanding is construed as a fairly comprehensive, coherent body of information (2007: 35). This is the idea that one has shifted, or changed, the way he or she takes in knowledge. Discusses and defines ability in the sense often appealed to in work on cognitive ability and the value of knowledge. 4 Pages. Epistemology is a branch in philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge. Attempts to explain away the intuitions suggesting that lucky understanding is incompatible with epistemic luck. This leaves us, however, with an interesting question about the point at which there is no understanding at all, rather than merely weaker or poorer understanding. However, Pritchard (2014) responds to Grimms latest proposal with a number of criticisms. In order to illustrate this point, Kvanvig invites us to imagine a case where an individual reads a book on the Comanche tribe, and she thereby acquires a belief set about the Comanche. Whitcomb also cites Alston (2005) as endorsing a stronger view, according to which true belief or knowledge gets at least some of its epistemic value from its connection to, and satisfaction of, curiosity. Specifically, he takes his opponents view to be that knowledge through direct experience is what sates curiosity, a view that traces to Aristotle. Pritchard, meanwhile, claims that the matter of understandings compatibility with epistemic luck can be appreciated only against the background of a distinction between two kinds of epistemic luckintervening and environmentalboth of which are incompatible with knowledge. Argues against a factive conception of scientific understanding. In order to make this point clear, Pritchard suggests that we first consider two versions of a case analogous with Kvanvigs. He claims further that this description of the case undermines the intuition that the writers lack of understanding entails the readers lack of understanding. Pros and cons of epistemology shift Changes in epistemology even though they have received several criticisms they have significantly played a critical role in the advancement of technology. Why We Dont Deserve Credit for Everything We Know. Synthese 156 (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education With a wide range of subtly different accounts of understanding (both objectual and understanding-why) on the table, it will be helpful to consider how understanding interfaces with certain key debates in epistemology. epistemological shift pros and cons. . In Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (Hardback) (Vol. With each step in the sequence, we understand the motion of the planets better than we did before. A second variety of understanding that has generated interest amongst epistemologists is, understanding-why. Such cases she claims feature intervening luck that is compatible with understanding. Achievements are thought of as being intrinsically good, though the existence of evil achievements (for example, skillfully committing genocide) and trivial achievements (for example, competently counting the blades of grass on a lawn) shows that we are thinking of successes that have distinctive value as achievements (Pritchard 2010: 30) rather than successes that have all-things-considered value. Contains exploration of whether the value knowledge may be in part determined by the extent to which it provides answers to questions one is curious about. Hills herself does not believe that understanding-why is some kind of propositional knowledge, but she points out that even if it is there is nonetheless good cause to think that understanding-why is very unlike ordinary propositional knowledge. Curiosity and a Response-Dependent Account of the Value of Understanding. In T. Henning and D. Schweikard (eds. (For example, is it a kind of knowledge, another kind of propositional attitude, an ability, and so on? Furthermore, Section 3 considers whether characterizations of understanding that focus on explanation provide a better alternative to views that capitalize on the idea of manipulating representations, also giving due consideration to views that appear to stand outside this divide. Kvanvig stipulates that there are no falsehoods in the relevant class of beliefs that this individual has acquired from the book, and also that she can correctly answer all relevant questions whilst confidently believing that she is expressing the truth. However, Baker (2003) has offered an account on which at least some instances of understanding-why are non-factive. To the extent that such a move is available, one has reason to resist Morriss rationale for resisting Pritchards diagnosis of Kvanvigs case. This skeptical argument is worth engaging with, presumably with the goal of showing that understanding does not turn out to be internally indistinguishable from mere intelligibility. Pritchard, D. Knowledge and Understanding in A. Fairweather (ed. If so, then the internally consistent delusion objection typically leveled against weakly nonfactive views raises its head. This is a view to which Grimm (2010) is also sympathetic, remarking that the object of objectual understanding can be profitably viewed along the lines of the object of know-how, where Grimm has in mind here an anti-intellectualist interpretation of know-how according to which knowing how to do something is a matter of possessing abilities rather than knowing facts (compare, Stanley & Williamson 2001; Stanley 2011). 824 Words. This point aligns with the datum that we often attribute understanding by degrees. Though her work on understanding is not limited to scientific understanding (for example, Elgin 2004), one notable argument she has made is framed to show that a factive conception cannot do justice to the cognitive contributions of science and that a more flexible conception can (2007: 32). Zagzebskis weak approach to a factivity constraint aligns with her broadly internalist thinking about what understanding actually does involvenamely, on her view, internal consistency and what she calls transparency. A theoretical advantage to a weak factivity constraint is that it neatly separates propositional knowledge and objectual understanding as interestingly different. PHIL 201 AIU Philosophy Pros & Cons of The Epistemological Shift Essay This is a change from the past. Positivism follows an identical approach as the study of natural sciences in the testing of a theory. It is not only unnecessary, but moreover, contentious, that a credible scientist would consider the ideal gas law true. One issue worth bringing into sharper focus is whether knowing a good and correct explanation is really the ideal form of understanding-why. That said, the question of whether, and if so to what extent, understanding is compatible with epistemic luck, lacks any contemporary consensus, though this is an aspect of understanding that is receiving increased attention. Sliwa, P. IVUnderstanding and Knowing. Stanley, J. Lipton, P. Understanding Without Explanation in H. de Regt, S. Leonelli, and K. Eigner (eds. As Wilkenfeld sees it, understanding should be construed as representational manipulability, which is to say that understanding is, essentially, the possessing of some representation that can be manipulated in useful ways. Are the prospects of extending understanding via active externalism on a par with the prospects for extending knowledge, or is understanding essentially internal in a way that knowledge need not be? This is of course an unpalatable result, as we regularly attribute understanding in the presence of not just one, but often many, false beliefs. Van Camp, W. Explaining Understanding (or Understanding Explanation. European Journal for Philosophy of Science 4(1) (2014): 95-114. Specifically, he points out that an omniscient agent who knows everything and intuitively therefore understands every phenomenon might do so while being entirely passivenot drawing interferences, making predictions or manipulating representations (in spite of knowing, for example, which propositions can be inferred from others). south east england accent; spend billionaires money game; kaplan data entry work from home. Moderate factivity implies that we should withhold attributions of understanding when an agent has a single false central belief, even in cases where the would-be understanding is of a large subject matter where all peripheral beliefs in this large subject matter are true. Epistemologically, a single-right-answer is believed to underlie each phenomenon, even though experts may not yet have developed a full understanding of the systemic causes that provide an accurate interpretation of some situations. This entry surveys the varieties of cognitive success, and some recent efforts to understand some of those varieties. An earlier paper defending the intellectualist view of know-how. This objection is worth holding in mind when considering any further positions that incorporate representation manipulability as necessary. For one thing, abstract objects, such as mathematical truths and other atemporal phenomena, can plausibly be understood even though our understanding of them does not seem to require an appreciation of their coming to existence. Thus, given that understanding that p and knowing that p can in ordinary contexts be used synonymously (for example, understanding that it will rain is just to know that it will rain) we can paraphrase Zagzebskis point with no loss as: understanding X entails knowing that one understands X. Pritchards assessment then of whether understanding is compatible with epistemic luck that is incompatible with knowledge depends on which kind of epistemic luck incompatible with knowledge one is discussing. Includes Alstons view of curiosity, according to which the epistemic value of true belief and knowledge partially comes from a link to curiosity. For example, you read many of your books on screens and e-readers today. Builds an account of understanding according to which understanding a subject matter involves possessing a representation that could be manipulated in a useful way. Relation question: What is the grasping relationship? Grimm (2006) and Pritchard (2010) counter that many of the most desirable instances of potential understanding, such as when we understand another persons psychology or understand how the world works, are not transparent. The epistemological shift in the present in the study - Course Hero Shift in Epistemology.edited.docx - Running head: SHIFT IN In the study of epistemology, philosophers are concerned with the epistemological shift. For example, Kvanvig (2003: 206) observes that we have an ordinary conception that understanding is a milestone to be achieved by long and sustained efforts at knowledge acquisition and Whitcomb (2012: 8) reflects that understanding is widely taken to be a higher epistemic good: a state that is like knowledge and true belief, but even better, epistemically speaking. Yet, these observations do not fit with the weak views commitment to, for example, the claim that understanding is achievable in cases of delusional hallucinations that are disconnected from the facts about how the world is. Many epistemologists have sought to distinguish understanding from knowledge on the basis of alleged differences in the extent to which knowledge and understanding are susceptible to being undermined by certain kinds of epistemic luck. Given the extent to which grasping is highly associated with understanding and left substantively unspecified, it is perhaps unsurprising that the matter of how to articulate grasping-related conditions on understanding has proven to be rather divisive. Carter, J. Discuss the pros and cons of the epistemological shift This in part for three principal reasons. New York: Free Press, 1965. In other words, one mistakenly take knowledge to be distinctively valuable only because knowledge often does have somethingcognitive achievementwhich is essential to understanding and which is finally valuable. For example, Kvanvig describes it as obtaining when understanding grammatically is followed by an object/subject matter, as in understanding the presidency, or the president, or politics (2003: 191). For example, an environment where ones abilities so easily could generate false beliefs of form despite issuing (luckily) true beliefs of the form on this occasion. Here is one potential example to illustrate this point: consider that it is not clear that people who desire to understand chemistry generally care about the cause of chemistry. For the purposes of thinking about understanding, some of the most important will include: (i) what makes a system of beliefs coherent? Given that the instrumental value is the same, our reaction to the two contrasting bypass cases seems to count in favor of the final value of successes because of abilityachievements. On such an interpretation, explanationism can be construed as offering a simple answer to the object question discussed above: the object of understanding-relevant grasping would, on this view, be explanations. Zagzebski notes that this easily leads to a vicious circle because neglect leads to fragmentation of meaning, which seems to justify further neglect and further fragmentation until eventually a concept can disappear entirely.. Scotland, U.K. A Weak Factivity Constraint on Objectual Understanding, Moderate Views of Objectual Understandings Factivity, Understanding as Representation Manipulability, Understanding as Well-Connected Knowledge, Understanding as (Partially) Compatible with Epistemic Luck, Newer Defenses of Understandings Compatibility with Epistemic Luck. Drawing from Stanley and Williamson, she makes the distinction between knowing a proposition under a practical mode of presentation and knowing it under a theoretical mode of presentation. Stanley and Williamson admit that the former is especially tough to spell out (see Glick 2014 for a recent discussion), but it must surely involve having complex dispositions, and so it is perhaps possible to know some proposition under only one of these modes of presentation (that is, by lacking the relevant dispositions, or something else). However, Pritchards work on epistemic luck (for example, 2005) and how it is incompatible with knowledge leads him to reason that understanding is immune to some but not all forms of malignant luck (that is, luck which is incompatible with knowledge). A paper in which it is argued that (contrary to popular opinion) knowledge does not exclude luck. 0. bella vista catholic charities housing; wills point tx funeral homes; ptvi triathlon distance; is frankie beverly in the hospital; birria tacos long branch; That said, Grimms more recent work (2014) expands on these earlier observations to form the basis of a view that spells out grasping in terms of a modal relationship between properties, objects or entitiesa theory on which what is grasped when one has understanding-why will be how changes in one would lead (or fail to lead) to changes in the other. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1979. This is perhaps partially because there is a tendency to hold a persons potential understanding to standards of objective appropriateness as well as subjective appropriateness. He says that knowledge about a phenomenon (P) is maximally well-connected when the basing relations that obtain between the agents beliefs about P reflect the agents knowledge about the explanatory and support relations that obtain between the members of the full account of P (2015: 12). Epistemological assumptions are those that focus on what can be known and how knowledge can be acquired (Bell, 8). On the one hand, we have manipulationists, who think understanding involves an ability (or abilities) to manipulate certain representations or concepts. Pros and cons of the epistemological shift - Ideal Term Papers Her line is that understanding-why involves (i) knowing what something is, and (ii) making reasonable sense of it. It is just dumb luck the genuine sheep happened to be in the field. We can accommodate the thought that not all beliefs relevant to an agents understanding must be true while nonetheless insisting that cases in which false beliefs run rampant will not count as understanding. This is a point Elgin is happy to grant. A longer discussion of the nature of understanding and its distinctive value (in relation to the value of knowledge) than in his related papers. This is the idea that one has shifted, or changed, the way he or she takes in knowledge. Facebook Instagram Email. Ginet, C. Knowledge, Perception and Memory. Thirdly, Kelp (2015) has an objection that he thinks all who favor a manipulationist line should find worrying. Objectual understanding is equivalent to what Pritchard has at some points termed holistic understanding (2009: 12). The Value of Knowledge and the Pursuit of Understanding. Toon (2015) has recently suggested, with reference to the hypothesis of extended cognition, that understanding can be located partly outside the head. Grimm (2012) has wondered whether this view might get things explanatorily backwards. ), The Continuum Companion to Epistemology. The modern epistemology deals with the debate between rationalism and empiricism. New York: Routledge, 2011. What is Justified Belief? In G. S. Pappas (ed. In so doing, he notes that the reader may be inclined to add further internalist requirements to his reliability requirement, of the sort put forward by Kvanvig (2003). A., Kallestrup, J. Palermos, S.O. It is helpful to consider an example. Wilkenfeld, D. Understanding as Representation Manipulability. Synthese 190 (2013): 997-1016. 1. For example, you read many of your books on screens and e-readers today. Since Kvanvig claims that the coherence-making relationships that are traditionally construed as necessary for justification on a coherentist picture are the very relations that one grasps (for example, the objects of grasping) when one understands, the justification literature may be a promising place to begin. Know How. Although the analysis of the value of epistemic states has roots in Plato and Aristotle, this renewed and more intense interest was initially inspired by two coinciding trends in epistemology. If this is right, then at least one prominent case used to illustrate a luck-based difference between knowledge and understanding does not hold up to scrutiny. Discusses the connection between curiosity and true belief. He also suggests, like Khalifa, that grasping be linked with correct explanations. Nonetheless, Zagzebski thinks that believing this actually allows us more understanding for most purposes than the vastly more complicated truth owing to our cognitive limitations. The topic of epistemic value has only relatively recently received sustained attention in mainstream epistemology. Kvanvig (2003; 2009) offers such a view, according to which understanding of some subject matter is incompatible with false central beliefs about the subject matter. Riaz, A. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. On the most straightforward characterization of her proposal, one fails to possess understanding why, with respect to p, if one lacks any of the abilities outlined in (i-vi), with respect to p. Note that this is compatible with one failing to possess understanding why even if one possesses knowledge that involves, as virtue epistemologists will insist, some kinds of abilities or virtues. Owing to Kvanvigs use of the words perceived achievement, Grimm thinks that the curiosity account of understandings value suggests that subjective understanding (or what is referred to as intelligibility above) can satisfy the desire to make sense of the world or really marks the legitimate end of inquiry.. What kind of historical enterprise is historical epistemology? Utilize at least 2 credible sources to support the arguments presented in the paper. Knowledge in a Social World. In short: understanding is causal propositional knowledge. As it turns out, not all philosophers who give explanation a central role in an account of understanding want to dispense with talk of grasping altogether, and this is especially so in the case of objectual understanding. Pritchard, D. Knowing the Answer, Understanding and Epistemic Value. Grazer Philosophische Studien 77 (2008): 325-39. That said, for manipulationists who are not already inclined to accept the entailment from all-knowing to omni-understanding, the efficacy against the manipulationist is diffused as the example does not get off the ground. For example, Hills (2009: 4) says you cannot understand why p if p is false (compare: S knows that p only if p). Defends views that hold explanation as indispensable for account of understanding and discusses what a non-factive account of grasping would look like. An important observation Grimm makes is that merely assenting to necessary truths is insufficient for knowing necessary truths a priorione must also grasp orsee the necessity of the necessary truth.