Single Idea 6444

[catalogued under 13. Knowledge Criteria / A. Justification Problems / 2. Justification Challenges / b. Gettier problem]

Full Idea

Not all true beliefs are knowledge; the stock example to the contrary is that of a clock which has stopped by which I believe to be going and which I happen to look at when, by chance, it shows the right time.

Gist of Idea

True belief about the time is not knowledge if I luckily observe a stopped clock at the right moment

Source

Bertrand Russell (My Philosophical Development [1959], Ch.15)

Book Reference

Russell,Bertrand: 'My Philosophical Development' [Routledge 1993], p.140


A Reaction

[in his 1948:112] Russell had spotted Gettier-type problems long before Gettier. The problem of lucky true beliefs dates back to Plato (Idea 2140). This example is also a problem for reliabilism, if the clock is usually working fine.

Related Idea

Idea 2140 True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road [Plato]