John Greco in, The Nature of Ability and the Purpose of Knowledge, argues that, “...knowledge is a true belief grounded in intellectual ability” (Greco 1). Now, this is categorically a 'virtue reliabilist' or more specifically, an 'agent reliabilist' claim. The purpose of this paper to analyze Greco's virtue reliablism. Moreover, to articulate one strong objection to Greco's view and to argue that Greco's defense of virtue reliablism fails. Specifically, the argument will be made that the newly instantiated 'Sea Race Objection' example effectively refutes Greco's version of virtue reliablism.
Greco's Virtue Reliabilism-
Greco contends that, “... knowledge is true belief grounded in intellectual virtue” (Greco 1). Greco then applies intellectual virtues to abilities, claiming that 'we think of' intellectual virtues as being abilities of the agent who 'knows.' Greco then argues that intellectual virtues are success from abilities, said success is creditable to the agent. Meaning, the agent who has the ability is then deserving of credit. Greco contends that, “[a]s such, knowledge attributions can be understood as credit attributions: when we say that someone knows something we credit them for getting it right. When we deny that someone knows something, we deny them credit for getting things right” (Greco 1-2). In short, the success of the agent is therefore creditable, while the failure of the agent is not. Also, it must be noted that the success of the agent must stem from their ability. The luck of the agent is therefore not creditable, the success must stem directly from the agents' ability, even if the luck of the agent has let them to the truth. Greco clearly contends that knowledge is incompatible with luck (Greco 2). Greco ...
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...being lucky. Muriel winning the race clearly shows how luck and knowledge are compatible.
Instead of Greco's claim that 'we' should credit those with knowledge for getting something right, the Sea Race Objection example shows that luck is creditable and intrinsically tied to other knowledge, how ever vague the connection or 'tightly tied' they may be. If this argument holds, then the backbone of Greco's virtue reliablist claim collapses. A further application of the Sea Race Objection would be that luck is virtious, yet this paper is not making that claim. An objection to the Sea Race Objection example that fits Greco's framework is that knowledge is an achievement, while luck is not. Yet, if Muriel wins the race through luck, that is an achievement made by the lucky. In short, knowledge is compatible with luck. This point will be further examined in future work.
Rossian Pluralism claims that there are multiple things that we have basic, intrinsic moral reason to do, which he names as the prima facie duties. These duties are not real, obligatory duties that one must follow under all circumstances, but are “conditional duties” (Ross 754) that one should decide to follow or reject upon reflection of their circumstances. This moral theory has faced criticisms, most strongly in the form of the problem of trade-offs. However, I will demonstrate that the problem of trade-offs is an issue that can be neglected as a valid objection to Rossian Pluralism because it is applicable to other theories as well and it is a factor that makes a moral theory more valuable than not.
Rationalists would claim that knowledge comes from reason or ideas, while empiricists would answer that knowledge is derived from the senses or impressions. The difference between these two philosophical schools of thought, with respect to the distinction between ideas and impressions, can be examined in order to determine how these schools determine the source of knowledge. The distinguishing factor that determines the perspective on the foundation of knowledge is the concept of the divine.
This “error of judgment”(Aristotle) allows Proctor to become a tragic hero. Through this immoral action several unfortunate events occurred. He...
(2) Williams, Bernard. "The Truth in Relativism." Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 75 (1975): 215-28. Web.
An Analysis of Matt Ridley’s The Origins of Virtue. Inwardly examining his own nature, man would prefer to see himself as a virtuously courageous being designed in the image of a divine supernatural force. Not to say that the true nature of man is a complete beast, he does possess, like many other creatures, admirable traits. As author Matt Ridley examines the nature of man in his work The Origins of Virtue, both the selfish and altruistic sides of man are explored.
The intellectual virtue is developed by learning it requires experience and time. The person that has the intellect virtue must be a lifelong learner and it must possess a reasonably broad base of practical and theoretical knowledge. “Being a lifelong learner also requires being curious and inquisitive. It requires a firm and powerful commitment to learning. It demands attentiveness and reflectiveness. It also requires intellectual determination, perseverance, and courage.”(Baehr, Jason. Page 249).
Aristotle's ethics consist of a form of virtue ethics, in which the ethical action is that which properly complies with virtue(s) by finding the mean within each particular one. Aristotle outlines two types of virtues: moral/character virtues and intellectual virtues. Though similar to, and inspired by, Plato and Socrates’ ethics, Aristotle's ethical account differs in some areas.
This essay attempts to capitalize on Goldman 's “What is justified belief?” to form an opinion about his ideas. Goldman makes a break from traditional views of knowledge to form a theory of externalism. He gives the reader a new point of view for observing the relationship between knowledge and justification. The following passage will weed out some important aspects of his theory and how they relate to his theory as a whole.
Traditional theories of intelligence do not account for the ambiguity of classes such as philosophy or for the wide range of interests a child can have. For example, contemporary theories such as Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence and Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences both account for more than the general intelligence accounted for in traditional intelligence theories. According to Robert Sternberg’s Successful (Triarchic) Theory of Intelligence, are Hector’s difficulties in philosophy indicative of future difficulties in the business world? According to Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence, Hector’s difficulty in philosophy will not negatively affect his future. Sternberg would instead focus on elements of successful intelligence like Hector’s involvement and contribution as an individual, as opposed to relying on intelligence measured by tests.
In David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, he divides the virtues of human beings into two types: natural and artificial. He argues that laws are artificial and a human invention. Therefore, he makes the point that justice is an artificial virtue instead of a natural virtue. He believed that human beings are moral by nature – they were born with some sense of morality and that in order to understand our “moral conceptions,” studying human psychology is the key (Moehler). In this paper, I will argue for Hume’s distinction between the natural and artificial virtues.
Lewis tried to undermine Jackson’s argument using the ability response. This response distinguishes between ‘knowledge how’ and knowledge that’. Consider two examples:
Perhaps the Greeks put so much importance on fate because there weren’t as many choices available to them in a less evolved society--that they were more likely to accept things as they were instead of taking things into their own hands. But that was not true for people like Galileo, Copernicus or Socrates, these men did not accept the teachings of society and pushed past beliefs they found to be antiquated.
Individuals continuously analyze Aristotle’s works and presumably will continue in the following generations. However, the works of Aristotle may be tricky to understand. Yet this analysis of Aristotle’s explanations of ignorance and willingness should be better understood after this
Per Dew and Foreman (2014), “Skepticism raises important questions about our cognitive and perceptual limitations but goes too far and leaves us with nothing, or almost nothing, that can be known. In the end, there are good reasons for thinking that we can have varying degrees of knowledge about the world” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 162). Furthermore, Dew and Foreman state that “Virtue epistemology attempts to emphasize the important role that intellectual virtue should play in our pursuit of knowledge” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 125). They show similar and different ways people can gain knowledge through individual “internal or external” life experiences, but no matter the experience individuals are capable gaining true
“That virtue does not come from wealth, but that wealth, and every other good thing which men have, whether in public or in private, comes from a virtue” to attempt to interpret this quote from Socrates we must first look at what is a virtue. A virtue is defined as a behavior showing high moral standards. In this quote he claims that a virtue or high moral standards doesn't come from worldly things but rather possessing high morals or virtue results in wealth and every other good thing which men have.