causal theory of knowledge/justification

causal theory of knowledge/justification
The view that an agent knows that something is so when there is some appropriate causal connection between the fact that it is so, and the agent's belief. The clearest example is direct perception, where the fact that there is a chair in the room causes my visual state of seeing that there is, and hence causes my knowing that there is. Difficulties include identifying the appropriate relation, extend-ing the idea to less direct cases, especially those involving such apparently non-causal things as abstract objects, and accommodating examples where there may be a causal connection, but it would be most unreasonable of the agent to believe that there is. See also deviant causal chain.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Spinoza: metaphysics and knowledge — G.H.R.Parkinson The philosophical writings of Spinoza are notoriously obscure, and they have been interpreted in many ways. Some interpreters see Spinoza as (in the words of a contemporary)1 ‘the reformer of the new [sc. Cartesian] philosophy’.… …   History of philosophy

  • Leibniz: truth, knowledge and metaphysics — Nicholas Jolley Leibniz is in important respects the exception among the great philosophers of the seventeenth century. The major thinkers of the period characteristically proclaim the need to reject the philosophical tradition; in their… …   History of philosophy

  • Descriptive knowledge — Descriptive knowledge, also declarative knowledge or propositional knowledge, is the species of knowledge that is, by its very nature, expressed in declarative sentences or indicative propositions. This distinguishes descriptive knowledge from… …   Wikipedia

  • Tree of Knowledge System — The Tree of Knowledge (ToK) System is a novel, theoretical approach to the unification of psychology developed by professor Gregg Henriques of James Madison University.The outline of the system was published in 2003 in Review of General… …   Wikipedia

  • List of philosophy topics (A-C) — 110th century philosophy 11th century philosophy 12th century philosophy 13th century philosophy 14th century philosophy 15th century philosophy 16th century philosophy 17th century philosophy 18th century philosophy 19th century philosophy220th… …   Wikipedia

  • Internalism and externalism — See also Externalism. Internalism and externalism are two opposing ways of explaining various subjects in several areas of philosophy. These include human motivation, knowledge, justification, meaning and truth. The distinction arises in many… …   Wikipedia

  • epistemology — epistemological /i pis teuh meuh loj i keuhl/, adj. epistemologically, adv. epistemologist, n. /i pis teuh mol euh jee/, n. a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. [1855 60; < Gk… …   Universalium

  • Hellenistic biological sciences — R.J.Kankinson The five centuries that separate Aristotle’s death in 322 BC from Galen’s ascendancy in Rome in the latter part of the second century AD were fertile ones for the biological sciences, in particular medicine. Nor is the period solely …   History of philosophy

  • Gettier problem — A Gettier problem is a problem in modern epistemology issuing from counter examples to the definition of knowledge as justified true belief (JTB). The problem owes its name to a three page paper published in 1963, by Edmund Gettier, called Is… …   Wikipedia

  • Glossary of philosophical isms — This is a list of topics relating to philosophy that end in ism . compactTOC NOTOC A * Absolutism – the position that in a particular domain of thought, all statements in that domain are either absolutely true or absolutely false: none is true… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”