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Full Idea
If you don't know which letters belong together in the right syllables…it is possible for true belief to be accompanied by a rational account and still not be entitled to the name of knowledge.
Gist of Idea
An inadequate rational account would still not justify knowledge
Source
Plato (Theaetetus [c.368 BCE], 208b)
Book Ref
Plato: 'Theaetetus', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [Penguin 1987], p.126
A Reaction
In each case of justification there is a 'clinching' stage, for which there is never going to be a strict rule. It might be foundational, but equally it might be massive coherence, or no alternative.
| 1923 | As a guide to action, true opinion is as good as knowledge [Plato] |
| 2140 | True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road [Plato] |
| 174 | True opinion without reason is midway between wisdom and ignorance [Plato] |
| 2089 | An inadequate rational account would still not justify knowledge [Plato] |
| 8331 | To know something we need understanding, which is grasp of the primary cause [Aristotle] |
| 22759 | Fools, infants and madmen may speak truly, but do not know [Sext.Empiricus] |
| 19517 | Believing without a reason may just be love of your own fantasies [Locke] |
| 12898 | Justification is neither sufficient nor necessary for knowledge [Lewis] |
| 8811 | What we want to know is - when is it all right to believe something? [Pollock] |
| 19734 | If value is practical, knowledge is no better than true opinion [Greco] |
| 6800 | Many philosophers rate justification as a more important concept than knowledge [Bird] |
| 19539 | If knowledge is unanalysable, that makes justification more important [Dougherty/Rysiew] |