Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Presupposition and Conversational Implicature' and 'Against the Logicians (two books)'

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2 ideas

13. Knowledge Criteria / A. Justification Problems / 1. Justification / b. Need for justification

22759	Fools, infants and madmen may speak truly, but do not know [Sext.Empiricus]
	Full Idea: The fool and the infant and the madman at times say something true, but they do not possess knowledge of the true.
	From: Sextus Empiricus (Against the Logicians (two books) [c.180], I.042)
	A reaction: This may be correct of someone who is insane, but seems unfair to the fool and the infant. At what age do children begin to know things? If speech was just random nonsense, an accidental truth seems impossible.

13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 3. Reliabilism / a. Reliable knowledge

22760	Madmen are reliable reporters of what appears to them [Sext.Empiricus]
	Full Idea: The madman is a trustworthy criterion of the appearances which occur in madness.
	From: Sextus Empiricus (Against the Logicians (two books) [c.180], I.062)
	A reaction: It is hard to conceive of an genuinely insane person deliberately misreporting their hallucinations. They are, of course, the sole witness.