Philosophy
Ever since Wittgenstein and his theory of family resemblance, philosophers have mainly abandoned the attempt to define concepts in terms of their "necessary and sufficient conditions" originally made famous by none other than Socrates. Still, the attempt is great practice in critical and creative thinking, and it can be incredibly helpful in illustrating what it is precisely that we mean when we deploy certain words in our discourse.
Now, one of the concepts that has been central to most philosophical discussions for the past few thousand years has been the concept of knowledge. What exactly does it mean to 'know' something? I hope you can immediately see why this is a theoretically and practically important question, but believe it or not, it turns out to be an exceedingly difficult concept, especially if we think of it in terms of wanting to defeat a global skeptic.
In the following fascinating lecture, Professor Millican demonstrates philosophy at work as he shows how philosophers wrestle with these conceptual issues. As you'll notice, each attempt at a definition will seem to encapsulate an intuitive conception of knowledge that captures most of what we might ordinarily mean by it, but its implications might produce new problems, which are usually shown with the deployment of thought experiments and counterexamples (like Gettier's). A new definition will be proposed to solve the previous problems, but new ones will arise. Lather, rinse, repeat, and you might think that this is going nowhere. I disagree. At the very least, we continue to learn the mistakes we are no longer entitled to make, and although slow, I think it does constitute a progress of sorts.
Click here to see the course slides
.
- Who Is Better Able To Philosophize? The Young Or The Old?
The Republic of Plato contains many philosophies and the philosophers who create them. The philosophers of the Republic of Plato express in depth interpretations of the world that reveal their amazing intelligence. These interpretations are argued and...
- Lecture 4 - Cartesian Dualism & The Mind-body Problem
There are all sorts of psychological reasons why people tend to believe that we have an immaterial soul that can somehow overcome the physical limitations of the body (think out-of-body experiences, misinterpretation of brain quirks and our tendency for...
- Lecture 3 - David Hume And The Problem Of Induction
Look at Newton's cradle on the right and ask yourself this question: what justification do you have for thinking that it will continue to behave in the future the way it has behaved in the past? This is not something you know a priori, through pure...
- Michael P. Lynch's Comments On Paul Horwich's “was Wittgenstein Right?”
See... No, Wittgenstein isn't "dead" "Of Flies and Philosophers: Wittgenstein and Philosophy" by Michael P. Lynch March 5th, 2013 The New York Times “To show the fly the way out of the fly bottle ”— that, Wittgenstein once said, was the...
- No, Wittgenstein Isn't "dead"
"Was Wittgenstein Right?" by Paul Horwich March 3rd, 2013 The New York Times The singular achievement of the controversial early 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was to have discerned the true nature of Western philosophy — what is special...
Philosophy
Lecture 5 - Knowledge (Epistemology)
Ever since Wittgenstein and his theory of family resemblance, philosophers have mainly abandoned the attempt to define concepts in terms of their "necessary and sufficient conditions" originally made famous by none other than Socrates. Still, the attempt is great practice in critical and creative thinking, and it can be incredibly helpful in illustrating what it is precisely that we mean when we deploy certain words in our discourse.Now, one of the concepts that has been central to most philosophical discussions for the past few thousand years has been the concept of knowledge. What exactly does it mean to 'know' something? I hope you can immediately see why this is a theoretically and practically important question, but believe it or not, it turns out to be an exceedingly difficult concept, especially if we think of it in terms of wanting to defeat a global skeptic.
In the following fascinating lecture, Professor Millican demonstrates philosophy at work as he shows how philosophers wrestle with these conceptual issues. As you'll notice, each attempt at a definition will seem to encapsulate an intuitive conception of knowledge that captures most of what we might ordinarily mean by it, but its implications might produce new problems, which are usually shown with the deployment of thought experiments and counterexamples (like Gettier's). A new definition will be proposed to solve the previous problems, but new ones will arise. Lather, rinse, repeat, and you might think that this is going nowhere. I disagree. At the very least, we continue to learn the mistakes we are no longer entitled to make, and although slow, I think it does constitute a progress of sorts.
Click here to see the course slides
.
- Who Is Better Able To Philosophize? The Young Or The Old?
The Republic of Plato contains many philosophies and the philosophers who create them. The philosophers of the Republic of Plato express in depth interpretations of the world that reveal their amazing intelligence. These interpretations are argued and...
- Lecture 4 - Cartesian Dualism & The Mind-body Problem
There are all sorts of psychological reasons why people tend to believe that we have an immaterial soul that can somehow overcome the physical limitations of the body (think out-of-body experiences, misinterpretation of brain quirks and our tendency for...
- Lecture 3 - David Hume And The Problem Of Induction
Look at Newton's cradle on the right and ask yourself this question: what justification do you have for thinking that it will continue to behave in the future the way it has behaved in the past? This is not something you know a priori, through pure...
- Michael P. Lynch's Comments On Paul Horwich's “was Wittgenstein Right?”
See... No, Wittgenstein isn't "dead" "Of Flies and Philosophers: Wittgenstein and Philosophy" by Michael P. Lynch March 5th, 2013 The New York Times “To show the fly the way out of the fly bottle ”— that, Wittgenstein once said, was the...
- No, Wittgenstein Isn't "dead"
"Was Wittgenstein Right?" by Paul Horwich March 3rd, 2013 The New York Times The singular achievement of the controversial early 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was to have discerned the true nature of Western philosophy — what is special...