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Single Idea 6273

[filed under theme 13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 7. Testimony ]

Full Idea

Our ability to picture how people are likely to respond may well be innate; indeed, our disposition to believe what other people tell us (which is fundamental to knowledge) could hardly be an inference, as that isn’t good enough for knowledge.

Gist of Idea

Knowledge depends on believing others, which must be innate, as inferences are not strong enough

Source

Hilary Putnam (Meaning and the Moral Sciences [1978], Lec VI)

Book Ref

Putnam,Hilary: 'Meaning and the Moral Sciences' [RKP 1981], p.74

A Reaction

An interesting claim. There could be an intermediate situation, which is a hard-wired non-conscious inference. When dismantled, the 'innate' brain circuits for assessing testimony could turn out to work on logic and evidence.

The 18 ideas with the same theme [role of reports and beliefs of other people in justification]:

10328 We think testimony matches reality because of experience, not some a priori connection [Hume]
2230 Good testimony needs education, integrity, motive and agreement [Hume, by PG]
23549 We treat testimony with a natural trade off of belief and caution [Reid, by Fricker,M]
7458 The reliability of witnesses depends on whether they benefit from their observations [Laplace, by Hacking]
6273 Knowledge depends on believing others, which must be innate, as inferences are not strong enough [Putnam]
6274 Empathy may not give knowledge, but it can give plausibility or right opinion [Putnam]
9214 Unsupported testimony may still be believable [Fine,K]
10325 Vindicating testimony is an expression of individualism [Kusch]
10324 Testimony does not just transmit knowledge between individuals - it actually generates knowledge [Kusch]
10327 Some want to reduce testimony to foundations of perceptions, memories and inferences [Kusch]
10329 Testimony won't reduce to perception, if perception depends on social concepts and categories [Kusch]
10330 A foundation is what is intelligible, hence from a rational source, and tending towards truth [Kusch]
10334 Testimony is an area in which epistemology meets ethics [Kusch]
10336 Powerless people are assumed to be unreliable, even about their own lives [Kusch]
23550 Burge says we are normally a priori entitled to believe testimony [Fricker,M]
23552 We assess testimonial probabilities by the speaker, the listener, the facts, and the circumstances [Fricker,M]
23553 Testimonial judgement is not logical, but produces reasons and motivations [Fricker,M]
23555 Assessing credibility involves the impact of both the speaker's and the listener's social identity [Fricker,M]