Philosophica 78:105-127 (2006)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Jennifer Lackey ('Testimonial Knowledge and Transmission' The Philosophical Quarterly 1999) and Peter Graham ('Conveying Information, Synthese 2000, 'Transferring Knowledge' Nous 2000) offered counterexamples to show that a hearer can acquire knowledge that P from a speaker who asserts that P, but the speaker does not know that P. These examples suggest testimony can generate knowledge. The showpiece of Lackey's examples is the Schoolteacher case. This paper shows that Lackey's case does not undermine the orthodox view that testimony cannot generate knowledge. This paper explains why Lackey's arguments to the contrary are ineffective for they misunderstand the intuitive rationale for the view that testimony cannot generate knowledge. This paper then elaborates on a version of the case from Graham's paper 'Conveying Information' (the Fossil case) that effectively shows that testimony can generate knowledge. This paper then provides a deeper informative explanation for how it is that testimony transfers knowledge, and why there should be cases where testimony generates knowledge.
|
Keywords | Schoolteacher Testimony Generating Knowledge Jennifer Lackey Fred Dretske Information Transmission |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
View all 13 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Epistemological Problems of Testimony.Jonathan E. Adler - 2006 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Disagreement and the Division of Epistemic Labor.Bjørn G. Hallsson & Klemens Kappel - 2020 - Synthese 197 (7):2823-2847.
Testimonial Contractarianism: A Knowledge‐First Social Epistemology.Mona Simion - forthcoming - Noûs.
View all 23 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Learning From Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge.Jennifer Lackey - 2008 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Learning From Words.Jennifer Lackey - 2006 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 73 (1):77–101.
The Concept of Testimony.Nicola Mößner - 2011 - In Christoph Jäger & Winfried Löffler (eds.), Epistemology: Contexts, Values, Disagreement, Papers of the 34. International Wittgenstein Symposium. Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society. pp. 207-209.
Testimony, Knowledge, and Epistemic Goals.Steven L. Reynolds - 2002 - Philosophical Studies 110 (2):139 - 161.
Testimony as a Social Foundation of Knowledge.Robert Audi - 2013 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 87 (3):507-531.
Moral Testimony: One of These Things Is Just Like the Others.Daniel Groll & Jason Decker - 2014 - Analytic Philosophy 55 (1):54-74.
Testimony: Acquiring Knowledge From Others.Jennifer Lackey - 2010 - In Alvin I. Goldman & Dennis Whitcomb (eds.), Social Epistemology: Essential Readings. Oxford University Press.
Religious Knowledge in the Context of Conflicting Testimony.John Greco - 2009 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 83:61-76.
Testimoniale Akte neu definiert – Ein zentrales Problem des Zeugnisses anderer.Nicola Mößner - 2010 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 80 (1):151-178.
On the Alleged Perversity of the Evidential View of Testimony.Arnon Keren - 2012 - Analysis 72 (4):700-707.
What is Wrong with Moral Testimony?Robert Hopkins - 2007 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74 (3):611-634.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2011-01-29
Total views
639 ( #12,520 of 2,507,011 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
62 ( #13,301 of 2,507,011 )
2011-01-29
Total views
639 ( #12,520 of 2,507,011 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
62 ( #13,301 of 2,507,011 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads