tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667288583830493271.post3156257991301378559..comments2023-10-31T06:14:24.897-07:00Comments on Philosophy in Progress: Stipulation and Easy Mathematical KnowledgeSharon Berryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17434076853502881274noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667288583830493271.post-18898987267003396022009-10-07T08:47:39.026-07:002009-10-07T08:47:39.026-07:00Are there objective facts about whether there are ...Are there objective facts about whether there are any heaps of sand in Hawaii, or any bald men in Canada?<br /><br />The fact that a term is vague, doesn't mean that there can't be objective facts about whether it does or doesn't apply in various clear cases.Sharon Berryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17434076853502881274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667288583830493271.post-19235319322826416782009-10-02T18:57:22.197-07:002009-10-02T18:57:22.197-07:00Do they count as knowing that T?
Well tell me how...Do they count as knowing that T?<br /><br />Well tell me how you define as "knowing that T" and specify exactly how they guess and I'll tell you the answer.<br /><br />I mean sure there are some situations where I feel comfortable saying "They know blah" and others where I feel comfortable saying "They don't know blah." I can even give some heuristics that would let some (english speaking) alien who has never been exposed to the concept of knowledge predict in most cases which sentence I would assent to if pressed.<br /><br />However, the same could be said about my determinations about who is a hot girl, the heuristics are just a bit more messy. In both cases I'd be willing to assert general principles I take to hold of the concepts, e.g., "If I know x then x is true" or "If x is a hot girl then x is not ugly." But in neither case would it be sensible to assume that there are clear cut rules to determine the application of the word in every case or even that different people will agree on the application in peculiar cases.<br /><br />Now if you just mean something like, "tell me how most people would answer if presented with this question," I can do a survey and in many cases there will be a robust result but sometimes the result will depend on subtle factors of how the survey is given. This problem only becomes worse as you pile on more and more constraints on the survey, e.g., "after reflection, presented with the best arguments, unlimited time to think etc.." so these attempts to handwave away the issue of whether there is a well definied question at all don't succeed.<br /><br />I mean we use words. There are empirical facts about how we use words. That's it. Now sometimes it's useful to reason about how we use words but we shouldn't confuse the useful *fiction* that there are objective facts about whether something is knowledge with reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com