Lecture Notes on Gettier Problems

Introduction

• Gettier Problems: Named after American philosopher Edmund Gettier, who introduced them in 1963.
• Challenge the philosophical tradition of defining knowledge as justified true belief (JTB).
• Situations where a belief is true and justified but not knowledge.
• Gettier's work led to a re-evaluation of what constitutes knowledge.

Justified-True-Belief (JTB) Analysis of Knowledge

• Propositional Knowledge: Knowledge described as 'knowledge that p', where "p" is a statement.
• Traditional analysis of knowledge includes:
  1. Belief: The person believes that "p".
  2. Truth: The belief "p" is true.
  3. Justification: The belief "p" is supported by evidence or reasoning.
• Gettier cases demonstrate that JTB might not be sufficient for knowledge.

Gettier's Original Challenge

• Gettier's article presented two cases challenging JTB.
• Case I Example:
  • Smith believes "whoever will get the job has ten coins in their pocket" based on evidence.
  • Although justified and true, Smith's belief is not knowledge.

Some Other Gettier Cases

• Lucky Disjunction: A true belief formed by chance.
• Sheep in the Field: A belief is true by coincidence.
• Pyromaniac: A belief is correct due to unexpected circumstances.
• Fake Barns: True belief amidst misleading appearances.

Basic Structure of Gettier Cases

• Involves beliefs that are true and justified but lack knowledge.
• Fallibility: Justification is not foolproof.
• Luck: Truth is achieved due to luck or unforeseen circumstances.

Generality of Gettier Cases

• JTB fails to account for all instances of knowledge.
• Gettier cases show that justified true belief is not enough for knowledge.

Attempted Solutions

Infallibility

• Proposes that only infallible justification is sufficient.
• Criticized for being too skeptical.

Eliminating Luck

• Suggests removing luck from the equation.
• Claims that knowledge should not result from accidental truths.

Eliminating False Evidence

• Knowledge should not rely on false premises.
• No False Evidence Proposal: Justification should not include any false beliefs.

Eliminating Defeat

• Justification should not be weakened by overlooked facts.
• No Defeat Proposal: Absence of any defeating facts in evidence.

Eliminating Inappropriate Causality

• A causal link between the truth and the belief is necessary.

Dissolutions and Alternative Views

Competing Intuitions

• Some argue against the standard interpretation of Gettier cases.
• Research shows varied intuitions about the absence of knowledge in Gettier cases.

Knowing Luckily

• Proposes that knowledge can be acquired through luck.
• Suggests that knowledge quality varies.

Gettier Cases and Analytic Epistemology

• Gettier cases have influenced epistemological methods and debates.
• Questions the sufficiency of JTB and the role of intuitive judgments in philosophy.

References and Further Reading

• Lists seminal works and key figures in the discussion of Gettier problems.