Deck 3: Knowing Vs Thinking

Question 1

What is the relativist theory of truth and how does Nagel criticize it? Is Nagel's criticism convincing in your view? Why or why not?

Answer 1

good essay will:
Provide a thesis at the outset that clearly states whether Nagel's criticism is convincing.
Provide a thorough and detailed exposition of Nagel's criticism, focusing on how the relativist theory (a) makes mistakes impossible and (b) is possibly self-refuting.
Provide a careful critical evaluation of Nagel's criticism that explains either (a) where and why it goes wrong OR (b) why it is convincing (this can include defending it from possible objections).

Question 2

What is the difference between factivity and non-factivity according to Nagel? Why is this distinction important to her discussion of knowledge?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Why does Nagel claim that a confidently held belief does not amount to knowledge? Do you agree? Why or why not?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

According to Protagoras, there is no such thing as truth.

Question 5

Nagel claims that Protagoras's view is possibly self-refuting.

Question 6

According to Nagel, it is impossible to know something false.

Question 7

According to Nagel, verbs like think and believe are factive.

Question 8

According to Nagel's analysis, a confidently held true belief is all that knowledge requires.

Question 9

According to the Ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras, there is no such thing as

A) Knowledge.
B) Objective truth.
C) Wisdom.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

According to Nagel, Protagoras's view seems to imply that

A) No one ever makes a mistake.
B) There is no such thing as truth.
C) Knowledge is impossible.
D) All of the above.

Question 11

According to Nagel, perhaps the biggest problem for Protagoras's relativist theory is that it is

A) Too confusing.
B) Impractical.
C) Self-refuting.
D) None of the above.

Question 12

Nagel claims that unlike Protagoras most philosophers believe that truth is

A) Objective.
B) Subjective.
C) Unknowable.
D) Innate.

Question 13

According to Nagel, knowledge is essentially linked to truth. This feature of knowledge is called

A) Objectivity.
B) Propositionality.
C) Veridicality.
D) Factivity.

Question 14

According to Nagel, __________ is an example of a non-factive verb.

A) See.
B) Think.
C) Remember.
D) None of the above.

Question 15

According to Nagel, __________ is an example of a factive verb.

A) Believe.
B) Hope.
C) Think.
D) None of the above.

Question 16

According to Nagel, we sometimes speak of someone "knowing" a falsehood when we use "know" in a __________ sense.

A) Relative.
B) Projective.
C) Subjective.
D) Objective.

Question 17

According to Nagel, __________ is a requirement of knowledge.

A) Truth.
B) Confidence.
C) Both a and
D) Neither a nor

Question 18

According to Nagel, a confidently held belief is __________ for knowledge.

A) Necessary.
B) Sufficient.
C) Both a and b.
D) Neither a nor b.

Question 19

What is the relativist theory of truth? What reasons might someone give for thinking this is the right account of truth? Are these reasons persuasive in your view? Why or why not?

Question 20

Nagel argues that knowledge requires more than truth and confidence. Can you think of what else might be required? Explain your answer.

Question 21

Give an example of something you believe or think but do not know. Explain what accounts for the difference.

Question 22

Zagzebski says "caring imposes a demand for conscientious belief." What is conscientious belief, and how does caring impose a demand for it?

Question 23

Explain the three kinds of trust that Zagzebski talks about, which we need to have a desirable life.

Question 24

Besides conscientious belief and trust, what are some other values that Zagzebski says we hold when it comes to our beliefs?

Question 25

A conscientiously held belief must be true.

Question 26

The more you care about something, the more conscientious you should be in your beliefs about it.

Question 27

If you care about a domain, you should always acquire as many beliefs as you can about it.

Question 28

Acting on a belief requires confidence in that belief.

Question 29

We value the ability to sort out true beliefs from false beliefs.

Question 30

According to Zagzebski, conscientiousness does not admit of degrees.

Question 31

Communication would be impossible if no one trusted and believed each other.

Question 32

We value the ability to predict the future and avoid surprises according to Zagzebski.

Question 33

According to Zagzebski, attempts to communicate with others are futile.

Question 34

Living a worthwhile life, to Zagzebski, includes having confidence in our beliefs.

Question 35

Zagzebski believes that we must care about having true beliefs

A) In the domains we care about.
B) In all domains.
C) If we want to be conscientious.
D) If we want to be caring.

Question 36

Your beliefs are conscientiously held if you

A) Have all true beliefs.
B) Have mostly true beliefs.
C) Try your best to have true beliefs.
D) Try your best to have ethical beliefs.

Question 37

Zagzebski claims that caring about a domain imposes the demand that we

A) Be conscientious about our current beliefs in that domain.
B) Acquire new conscientious beliefs in that domain.
C) Both a and
D) Neither a nor b

Question 38

Zagzebski says that, all things being equal, we should try to acquire new true beliefs about things we care about except when doing so

A) Is dangerous to life or limb.
B) Conflicts with something else we care about.
C) Requires us to do something unethical.
D) All of the above.

Question 39

For us to act on a belief, we need

A) The belief to be true.
B) Reasons for the belief.
C) Confidence in the belief.
D) Absolute certainty in the belief.

Question 40

Zagzebski's metaphor of fool's gold applies to beliefs because

A) False beliefs are valueless, like fool's gold.
B) It can be difficult to tell false beliefs from true ones.
C) True beliefs are less valuable when false ones are mixed in.
D) All of the above.

Question 41

Zagzebski says that we want to be "good informants to others." This means we want

A) To pass along true beliefs on subjects we care about.
B) To tell people when they have false beliefs.
C) To trust others when they pass information to us.
D) To be trusted by others when we give information to them.

Question 42

Being conscientious

A) Guarantees that you get fewer false beliefs.
B) Guarantees that you get all true beliefs.
C) Guarantees that you get at least some true beliefs.
D) Is all you can do to try to get true beliefs.

Question 43

Zagzebski says that we need self-trust, which means we must trust that

A) Most of our beliefs are true.
B) Most of our community tells us the truth.
C) Being conscientious will lead people to trust us.
D) Being conscientious will lead to having more true beliefs.

Question 44

What is Zagzebski's view on trusting other people?

A) We depend on others for most of our beliefs, so we must trust them.
B) We usually can't confirm that others are conscientious in their beliefs.
C) Both a and b are true. So we have to trust without confirming.
D) Both a and b are true. So we have no way of evaluating whether our beliefs are true.

Question 45

Cassandra's curse was that

A) She could prophesy the future.
B) No one believed her prophecies.
C) She was seduced by Apollo.
D) She was made mute or voiceless.

Question 46

Zagzebski says that "Living in a community of epistemically trusting and trustworthy people is an important requirement of any worthwhile life." Why does she believe this?

A) Because human beings are only happy if they live in communities, not alone.
B) Because a community of ethical and honest people is more pleasant to live in.
C) Because if no one believed anything you said, it would be impossible to communicate.
D) Because philosophers believe in living an "examined life."

Question 47

According to Zagzebski, how do we feel about surprises?

A) We prefer being able to predict the world, especially in the domains we care about.
B) We prefer being able to predict some areas, but like surprises in the domains we care about.
C) We enjoy surprises because they show us where our false beliefs are.
D) We enjoy surprises because they are challenging and exciting.

Question 48

What does Zagzebski say about knowledge?

A) Some of the values she has mentioned might be part of knowledge.
B) None of the values she has mentioned has anything to do with knowledge.
C) All of the values she has mentioned are required for knowledge.
D) There's no point in worrying about knowledge; conscientiousness is more important.

Question 49

The values that Zagzebski discusses here are desirable because

A) We should be more rational in our beliefs and these values show us how.
B) We care about things as part of life, and these values naturally arise.
C) We should care about things more, and these values show us how.
D) We should be more caring toward our community, and these values help.

Question 50

Why does Zagzebski discuss the myth of Cassandra? What point does she make using this story?

Question 51

Why does Zagzebski tell the story about fool's gold? What point is she making with this story?

Question 52

Zagzebski believes that "we must care about having true beliefs in the domains we care about." Do you agree with this? Think of something you care about and use it as an example for your discussion of Zagzebski's point.

Question 53

Consider something that you take yourself to know to be true. Why do you think you know this? How do your reasons for claiming to know this thing compare with Ayer's three conditions for knowledge?

Question 54

Ayer says that we cannot give general standards for when one is justified in being sure that something is the case. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Question 55

Can we know things on the basis of processes that are not generally reliable? Justify your answer with an example.

Question 56

Truth is a necessary condition for knowledge according to Ayer.

Question 57

Truth is a sufficient condition for knowledge according to Ayer.

Question 58

We can always determine whether someone knows something on the basis of a reliable process.

Question 59

According to Ayer, it is impossible to be completely sure of something which is in fact true and yet not know it.

Question 60

It is necessary to have the right to be sure that a belief is true for it to be true.

Question 61

According to Ayer's analysis, knowledge requires

A) True belief.
B) That the believer is sure about the truth of his or her belief.
C) That the believer is entitled to be sure about the truth of his or her belief.
D) All of the above.

Question 62

Ayer argues that in order to __________, knowledge requires a condition according to which one must be entitled to be sure of the truth of one's belief.

A) Rule out knowledge of false things.
B) Ensure that true beliefs formed on the basis of superstition or prejudice do not count as knowledge.
C) Distinguish between being asleep and being awake.
D) All of the above.

Question 63

According to Ayer, knowledge requires that true beliefs are arrived at on the basis of

A) A mathematical proof.
B) Sense perception.
C) A generally reliable process of reasoning.
D) None of the above.

Question 64

According to Ayer, the following contributes evidence for knowledge:

A) Intuition.
B) Telepathy.
C) A rational method.
D) Superstition.

Question 65

Ayer claims that knowledge of empirical truths requires more than

A) Perception.
B) Memory.
C) Testimony.
D) All of the above.

Question 66

Consider something that you know. How do you know it? Can you give an answer to the question? And how does your answer (or inability to give one) bear on your claim of knowledge?

Question 67

Are there things that you know that you are not sure are the case? Explain.

Question 68

Can you know something false? What about something that you are not sure is true? Explain.

Question 69

Construct a Gettier counterexample of your own to the claim that justified true belief is knowledge. Explain why it is a counterexample.

Question 70

Explain why Gettier's case satisfies Ayer's definition of knowledge (previous reading) and why it provides a counterexample to the definition.

Question 71

Do you find Gettier's case compelling? Why or why not?

Question 72

According to Gettier's analysis, knowledge is justified true belief.

Question 73

Smith has ten coins in his pocket.

Question 74

In Gettier's example, Smith knows that he has ten coins in his pocket.

Question 75

Smith can validly infer that Jones will get the job, but not know this to be true.

Question 76

According to Gettier, Ayer's conditions for knowledge are neither necessary nor sufficient.

Question 77

Gettier's counterexample is meant to demonstrate that

A) Ayer's conditions for knowledge are both necessary and sufficient.
B) Ayer's conditions for knowledge allow for false beliefs.
C) Knowledge relies on empirical evidence.
D) Knowledge is true belief.

Question 78

According to Gettier, Ayer's stated conditions for knowledge are

A) Neither necessary nor sufficient.
B) Both necessary and sufficient.
C) Not necessary.
D) Not sufficient.

Question 79

According to Gettier, inferring from available evidence

A) Justifies belief in the truth of a claim.
B) Justifies the valid deduction of a claim.
C) Is sufficient for concluding the truth of a claim.
D) Is insufficient for concluding the truth of a claim.

Question 80

In Gettier's counterexample,

A) Smith does not know how many coins are in his pocket.
B) Jones knows how many coins are in his pocket.
C) Jones gets the job.
D) Both b and c