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Single Idea 19508

[filed under theme 13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 6. Contextual Justification / a. Contextualism ]

Full Idea

Contextualist semantics must capture the 'indexical' nature of knowledge claims, the fact that different utterances of a knowledge sentence with no apparent indexical terms can express different propositions.

Clarification

'Indexical' implies that meaning varies with context

Gist of Idea

Contextualism needs a semantics for knowledge sentences that are partly indexical

Source

Stephen Schiffer (Contextualist Solutions to Scepticism [1996], p.325), quoted by Keith DeRose - The Case for Contextualism 1.5

Book Ref

DeRose,Keith: 'The Case for Contextualism' [OUP 2009], p.9

A Reaction

Schiffer tries to show that this is too difficult, and DeRose defends contextualism against the charge.

Related Idea

Idea 19509 The indexical aspect of contextual knowledge might be hidden, or it might be in what 'know' means [Schiffer,S]

The 18 ideas with the same theme [defence of context as vital to knowledge claims]:

12895 Knowing is context-sensitive because the domain of quantification varies [Lewis, by Cohen,S]
19562 We have knowledge if alternatives are eliminated, but appropriate alternatives depend on context [Lewis, by Cohen,S]
9166 People vary in their epistemological standards, and none of them is 'correct' [Field,H]
19558 Our own intuitions about whether we know tend to vacillate [Cohen,S]
19561 We shouldn't jump too quickly to a contextualist account of claims to know [Cohen,S]
19563 The context sensitivity of knowledge derives from its justification [Cohen,S]
19560 Contextualism is good because it allows knowledge, but bad because 'knowing' is less valued [Cohen,S]
12893 Contextualism says sceptical arguments are true, relative to their strict context [Cohen,S]
12896 Knowledge is context-sensitive, because justification is [Cohen,S]
19514 Classical invariantism combines fixed truth-conditions with variable assertability standards [DeRose]
19515 We can make contextualism more precise, by specifying the discrimination needed each time [DeRose]
19510 In some contexts there is little more to knowledge than true belief. [DeRose]
19516 Contextualists worry about scepticism, but they should focus on the use of 'know' in ordinary speech [DeRose]
10341 Justification depends on the audience and one's social role [Kusch]
6597 A rule of justification might be: don't raise the level of scrutiny without a good reason [Fogelin]
19555 People begin to doubt whether they 'know' when the answer becomes more significant [Conee]
19508 Contextualism needs a semantics for knowledge sentences that are partly indexical [Schiffer,S]
19509 The indexical aspect of contextual knowledge might be hidden, or it might be in what 'know' means [Schiffer,S]