Epistemic minimalism
Encyclopedia
Epistemic minimalism is the epistemological thesis that mere true belief is sufficient for knowledge
. That is, the meaning of "Smith knows that it rained today" is accurately and completely analyzed by these two conditions:
The thesis is called minimalist by way of contrast with the competing accounts, which more or less universally require that true belief is necessary but insufficient for knowledge—that is, that a belief needs to be true in order to count as knowledge, but that truth alone is not enough—that something else is needed. Traditionally, that something else was held to be evidential justification
; today it is usually held to be either justification and also some other condition, or else some other condition instead of justification, which will avoid the Gettier problem
.
Whatever the analysis, though, the standard view (both pre-Gettier and post-Gettier) pushes for narrower analyses of knowledge than mere true belief. Epistemic minimalism turns in exactly the opposite direction, and argues for a much more inclusive analysis--one which includes even Gettier cases, lucky guesses, and completely unjustified beliefs, as long as they happen to be true. The thesis is a minimalism in the sense that it eschews the additional requirements piled on top of true belief and argues that the intuitive reasons given for the JTB analysis and its descendants are either misleading or misunderstood.
The most famous (or infamous) proponent of epistemic minimalism is Crispin Sartwell
(1991). The view has been criticized by many epistemologists, with an influential criticism being delivered by William Lycan
(1994).
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
. That is, the meaning of "Smith knows that it rained today" is accurately and completely analyzed by these two conditions:
- Smith believes that it rained today.
- It is true that it rained today.
The thesis is called minimalist by way of contrast with the competing accounts, which more or less universally require that true belief is necessary but insufficient for knowledge—that is, that a belief needs to be true in order to count as knowledge, but that truth alone is not enough—that something else is needed. Traditionally, that something else was held to be evidential justification
Theory of justification
Theory of justification is a part of epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of propositions and beliefs. Epistemologists are concerned with various epistemic features of belief, which include the ideas of justification, warrant, rationality, and probability...
; today it is usually held to be either justification and also some other condition, or else some other condition instead of justification, which will avoid the Gettier problem
Gettier problem
A Gettier problem is a problem in modern epistemology issuing from counter-examples to the definition of knowledge as justified true belief . The problem owes its name to a three-page paper published in 1963, by Edmund Gettier, called "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?", in which Gettier argues...
.
Whatever the analysis, though, the standard view (both pre-Gettier and post-Gettier) pushes for narrower analyses of knowledge than mere true belief. Epistemic minimalism turns in exactly the opposite direction, and argues for a much more inclusive analysis--one which includes even Gettier cases, lucky guesses, and completely unjustified beliefs, as long as they happen to be true. The thesis is a minimalism in the sense that it eschews the additional requirements piled on top of true belief and argues that the intuitive reasons given for the JTB analysis and its descendants are either misleading or misunderstood.
The most famous (or infamous) proponent of epistemic minimalism is Crispin Sartwell
Crispin Sartwell
Crispin Gallegher Sartwell is an American philosophy professor, self-professed individualist anarchist and journalist. He received his B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, his M.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D...
(1991). The view has been criticized by many epistemologists, with an influential criticism being delivered by William Lycan
William Lycan
William G. Lycan is a noted American philosopher teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,where he is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor. He won the Class of 2001 Outstanding Faculty Award and a Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction in...
(1994).