Abstract
In a series of works Sosa (in: Knowledge in perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991; A virtue epistemology: apt belief and reflective knowledge, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007; Reflective knowledge: apt belief and reflective knowledge, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009; ‘How Competence Matters in Epistemology’, Philos Perspect 24(1):465–475, 2010; Knowing full well, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2011; Judgment and agency, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015; Epistemology, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2017) has defended the view that there are two kinds or ‘grades’ of knowledge, animal and reflective. One of the most persistent critics of Sosa’s attempts to bifurcate knowledge is Kornblith (in: Greco (ed) Ernest sosa and his critics, Wiley, Hoboken, 2004; ‘Sosa in Perspective’, Philos Stud 144(1):127–136, 2009; On reflection, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012). Our aim in this paper is to outline and evaluate Kornblith’s criticisms. We will argue that, while they raise a range of difficult (exegetical and substantive) questions about Sosa’s ‘bi-level’ epistemology, Sosa has the resources to adequately respond to all of them. Thus, this paper is a (qualified) defence of Sosa’s bi-level epistemology.
Highlights
Introductory remarksIn a series of works Ernest Sosa (see Sosa 1991, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017) has defended the view that there are two kinds or ‘grades’ of knowledge, animal and reflective
In a series of works Ernest Sosa has defended the view that there are two kinds or ‘grades’ of knowledge, animal and reflective
Sosa holds that one has animal knowledge that p iff one truly believes that p as the result of one’s exercising a reliable competence, whereas one has reflective knowledge that p iff one has (a) animal knowledge that p; and (b) achieved a perspective on one’s first-order belief from which one can see it as reliably produced and fitting into a broader network of first-order beliefs
Summary
In a series of works Ernest Sosa (see Sosa 1991, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017) has defended the view that there are two kinds or ‘grades’ of knowledge, animal and reflective. Sosa holds that one has animal knowledge that p iff one truly believes that p as the result of one’s exercising a reliable competence, whereas one has reflective knowledge that p iff one has (a) animal knowledge that p; and (b) achieved a perspective on one’s first-order belief from which one can see it as reliably produced and fitting into a broader network of first-order beliefs. One of the most persistent critics of Sosa’s attempts to bifurcate knowledge is Hilary Kornblith (see Kornblith 2004, 2009, 2012). Our aim in this paper is to outline and evaluate Kornblith’s criticisms. This paper is a (qualified) defence of Sosa’s bi-level epistemology
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