Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:08:42.242Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Anti-luck Epistemology, Pragmatic Encroachment, and True Belief

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Nathan Ballantyne*
Affiliation:
Fordham University, Bronx, NY10458, USA

Extract

Two common theses in contemporary epistemology are that ‘knowledge excludes luck’ and that knowledge depends on ‘purely epistemic’ factors. In this essay, I shall argue as follows: given some plausible assumptions, ‘anti-luck epistemology,’ which is committed to the fi rst thesis, implies the falsity of the second thesis. That is, I will argue that anti-luck epistemology leads to what has been called ‘pragmatic encroachment’ on knowledge. Anti-luck epistemologists hoping to resist encroachment must accept a controversial thesis about true belief or a dubious claim about luck and value and interests.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arneson, R. 2008. ‘Rawls, Responsibility, and Distributive Justice’ in Justice, Political Liberalism, and Utilitarianism: Themes from Harsanyi and Rawls, Salles, M. and Weymark, J.A. eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 80107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballantyne, N. Forthcoming ‘Luck and Interests.’ Synthese.Google Scholar
Becker, K. 2008. ‘Epistemic Luck and the Generality Problem.Philosophical Studies 139: 353–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisholm, R.M. 1966. Theory of Knowledge, 1st ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Clark, M. 1963. ‘Knowledge and Grounds: A Comment on Mr. Gettier's Paper.Analysis 24: 46–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coffman, E.J. 2007. ‘Thinking about Luck.’ Synthese 158 (2007): 385–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coffman, E.J. 2009. ‘Does Luck Exclude Control?Australasian Journal of Philosophy 87: 499–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coffman, E.J. 2010. ‘Misleading Dispositions and the Value of Knowledge.Journal of Philosophical Research 35: 241–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, M. 1992. ‘Is Epistemic Luck Compatible with Knowledge?Southern Journal of Philosophy 30: 59–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fantl, J. and McGrath, M. 2002. ‘Evidence, Pragmatics, and Justification.Philosophical Review 111: 67–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fantl, J. and McGrath, M. 2007. ‘On Pragmatic Encroachment in Epistemology.Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 75: 558–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gettier, E. 1963. ‘Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?Analysis 23: 121–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimm, S. 2008. ‘Epistemic Goals and Epistemic Values.Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 76: 725–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greco, J. 2003. ‘Knowledge as Credit for True Belief’ in Intellectual Virtue: Perspectives from Ethics and Epistemology, DePaul, M. and Zagzebski, L. eds. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hawthorne, J. 2004. Knowledge and Lotteries. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Heatherington, S. 1999. ‘Knowing Failably.Journal of Philosophy 96: 565–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heatherington, S. 2011. How to Know: A Practicalist Conception of Knowledge. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, T. 2003. ‘Epistemic Rationality as Instrumental Rationality: A Critique.Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66: 612–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, P. 1971. ‘A Proposed Definition of Propositional Knowledge.Journal of Philosophy 68: 471–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kvanvig, J. 2003. The Value of Knowledge and the Pursuit of Understanding. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kvanvig, J. 2008. ‘Pointless Truth.Midwest Studies in Philosophy 32 (2008): 199212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lackey, J. 2008. ‘What Luck Is Not.Australasian Journal of Philosophy 86: 255–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, N. 2009. ‘What, and Where, Luck Is: A Response to Jennifer Lackey.Australasian Journal of Philosophy 87: 489–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, N. 2011. Hard Luck: How Luck Undermines Free Will and Moral Responsibility. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, M. 2004. True to Life: Why Truth Matters. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madison, B.J.C. 2011. ‘Combating Anti Anti-Luck Epistemology.Australasian Journal of Philosophy 89: 47–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagel, T. 1979. Mortal Questions. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pritchard, D. 2005. Epistemic Luck. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pritchard, D. 2007. ‘Anti-luck Epistemology.Synthese 158: 277–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rescher, N. 1995. Luck: The Brilliant Randomness of Everyday Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riggs, W. 2007. ‘Why epistemologists are so down on their luck.Synthese 158: 329–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riggs, W. 2009. ‘Luck, Knowledge, and Control’ in Epistemic Value, Haddock, A. Millar, A. and Pritchard, D.H. eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sosa, E. 2003. ‘The Place of Truth in Epistemology’ in Intellectual Virtue: Perspectives from Ethics and Epistemology, DePaul, M. and Zagzebski, L. eds. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Steglich-Peterson, A. 2010. ‘Luck as an Epistemic Notion.Synthese 176: 361–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unger, P. 1968. ‘An Analysis of Factual Knowledge.Journal of Philosophy 65: 157–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, B. 1981. Moral Luck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zagzebski, L. 1994. ‘The Inescapability of Gettier Problems.Philosophical Quarterly 44: 65–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zagzebski, L. 1999. ‘What is Knowledge?’ in The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology, Greco, J. and Sosa, E. eds. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar