Full Idea
Contextualism seems to predict that if you encounter a knowledge attribution out of context you won't be in a position to grasp which proposition the sentence expresses.
Gist of Idea
If contextualism is right, knowledge sentences are baffling out of their context
Source
Kent Bach (The Emperor's New 'Knows' [2005], I)
Book Reference
'Contextualism in Philosophy', ed/tr. Preyer,G /Peter, G [OUP 2005], p.61
A Reaction
It is only the word 'knows' which is at issue in the sentence. If someone is said to 'know' about the world of the fairies, we might well be puzzled as to what proposition was being expressed. Is the word 'flat' baffling out of context?