Knowledge from a Human Point of View

Barry Stroud

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-27041-4_9

Abstract

AbstractEverything that is known by human beings is known from a human point of view. There is no other point of view from which human beings can know anything. Is there something distinctively “perspectival” about human knowledge or the study of human knowledge? Explaining how such-and-such has come to be known by human beings involves explaining how those who know it came to get things right. Those who explain that knowledge are thereby committed to the truth of what is said to be known. Can we explain, from a human point of view, how it has come to be known that such-and-such is so in the world we live in? Or can we explain, from a human point of view, only how it has come to be known that such-and-such is so from a human point of view in the world we live in?

Highlights

Everything that is known by human beings is known from a human point of view
One way to understand the phrase “knowledge from a human point of view” is to take it to refer to human knowledge: everything human beings know
“Knowledge from a human point of view” presumably means knowledge gained by human means: through the exercise of distinctively human sensory and intellectual capacities

Summary

Introduction

Everything that is known by human beings is known from a human point of view. There is no other point of view from which human beings can know anything. From a human point of view, how it has come to be known that such-and-such is so in the world we live in?

Results

Conclusion