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Chapter 2 - Counterexamples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2019

Marc Alspector-Kelly
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University
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Summary

I first describe Dretske’s famous zebra example wherein one infers from “it’s a zebra” to “it’s not a mule disguised to look like a zebra”. The construction of such putative counterexamples to closure requires that we can have fallibly grounded knowledge. I describe what I call the “basis fallibilism” exploited by such examples and distinguish it from other kinds of fallibilism. After presenting a number of such counterexamples – which I call “Dretske cases” – I consider Jonathan Vogel’s critique of Dretske’s mobilization of them in arguing for closure. I argue that Vogel’s critique succeeds only if we capitulate to the skeptic. I next identify a number of intuitive reactions to Dretske cases, noting that, since those reactions are in tension with one another, no one view can claim to accommodate them all. I then present a generalization of the argument against closure that appeals to Dretske cases – the “argument by counterexample”. Closure advocates must reject one or more of the premises of that argument; different closure-preserving views can then be distinguished by which premise they deny. Chapters 3–8 review those distinct closure-preserving responses to that argument.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Counterexamples
  • Marc Alspector-Kelly, Western Michigan University
  • Book: Against Knowledge Closure
  • Online publication: 04 May 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108604093.002
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  • Counterexamples
  • Marc Alspector-Kelly, Western Michigan University
  • Book: Against Knowledge Closure
  • Online publication: 04 May 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108604093.002
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Counterexamples
  • Marc Alspector-Kelly, Western Michigan University
  • Book: Against Knowledge Closure
  • Online publication: 04 May 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108604093.002
Available formats
×