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11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge

[situation of holding a set of reliable true beliefs]

38 ideas
To know yet to think that one does not know is best [Laozi (Lao Tzu)]
Pursuit of learning increases activity; the Way decreases it [Laozi (Lao Tzu)]
Knowing how to achieve immortality is pointless without the knowledge how to use immortality [Plato]
Knowledge must be of the permanent unchanging nature of things [Plato]
Things are only knowable if a rational account (logos) is possible [Plato]
The ability to teach is a mark of true knowledge [Aristotle]
For Aristotle knowledge is explanatory, involving understanding, and principles or causes [Aristotle, by Witt]
'Episteme' means grasping causes, universal judgments, explanation, and teaching [Aristotle, by Witt]
The reason why is the key to knowledge [Aristotle]
For Aristotle, knowledge is of causes, and is theoretical, practical or productive [Aristotle, by Code]
Do not try to do things, or to master knowledge; just be empty [Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
Perception an open hand, a fist is 'grasping', and holding that fist is knowledge [Zeno of Citium, by Long]
Knowledge is a secure grasp of presentations which cannot be reversed by argument [Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
Knowledge is a quality existing subjectively in the soul [William of Ockham]
Sometimes 'knowledge' just concerns the conclusion, sometimes the whole demonstration [William of Ockham]
Spinoza's three levels of knowledge are perception/imagination, then principles, then intuitions [Spinoza, by Scruton]
Our knowledge falls short of the extent of our own ideas [Locke]
Knowledge needs clarity, distinctness, and adequacy, and it should be intuitive [Leibniz]
Perfect knowledge implies complete explanations and perfect prediction [Leibniz]
No one would bother to reason, and try to know things, without a desire for enjoyment [Rousseau]
Knowledge is threefold: apprehension, reproduction by imagination, recognition by concepts [Kant, by Bowie]
Knowledge begins with intuitions, moves to concepts, and ends with ideas [Kant]
'Transcendental' concerns how we know, rather than what we know [Kant]
The strength of knowledge is not its truth, but its entrenchment in our culture [Nietzsche]
We can't know whether there is knowledge if we don't know what it is [Nietzsche]
Knowledge is either the product of competent enquiry, or it is meaningless [Dewey]
All our knowledge (if verbal) is general, because all sentences contain general words [Russell]
In epistemology we should emphasis the continuity between animal and human minds [Russell]
Knowledge cannot be precisely defined, as it merges into 'probable opinion' [Russell]
Why does knowledge appear in sudden bursts, and not in a smooth continuous development? [Foucault]
It is acceptable to say a supermarket door 'knows' someone is approaching [Sosa]
The concept of knowledge is so confused that it is best avoided [Bonjour]
Epistemology is about the justification of belief, not the definition of knowledge [Scruton]
The main epistemological theories are foundationalist, coherence, probabilistic and reliabilist [Pollock/Cruz]
Perception, introspection, testimony, memory, reason, and inference can give us knowledge [Bernecker/Dretske]
We have inexact knowledge when we include margins of error [Williamson]
Epistemology does not just concern knowledge; all aspects of cognitive activity are involved [Kvanvig]
Maybe there is plain 'animal' knowledge, and clearly justified 'reflective' knowledge [Vahid]