The Gettier Problem
Summary | Traditionally, knowledge has been taken to yield a reductive analysis in terms of (conceptually primitive) necessary and jointly sufficient conditions—most commonly, justified (or warranted) true belief. In 1963, however, Edmund Gettier’s “Is Knowledge Justified True Belief?” challenged the reductive model of knowledge by producing a series of counterexamples where, intuitively, a justified true belief fails to be knowledge. Since Gettier’s original challenge, the philosophical literature has been replete with attempts to defend the reductive analysis against Gettier counterexamples (now generalized well beyond the cases posed in 1963) and those claiming that such defenses fail. |
Key works | Gettier 1963 is the piece that started it all, and should be the first point of contact with the literature. And Shope 1983 provides an excellent summary of the first 20 years following Gettier's landmark paper. Since Gettier's landmark paper, there have been numerous attempts to provide viable reductive analysis of knowledge that are not vulnerable to Gettier counterexamples; however, such attempts are usually simply met with further counterexamples. Other philosophers have tried to defuse Gettier counterexamples by challenging the intuitions that inform and undergird them. See Weatherson 2003 and Weinberg et al 2001. Finally, it is worth noting that some philosophers have argued that Gettier counterexamples are unavoidable within the reductive model of knowledge. See Zagzebski 1994, Floridi 2004, and Church 2013 |
Introductions | Encyclopedia articles include Steup 2008 and Hetherington 2005. Hetherington 2018 is a good anthology on the Gettier Problem. Church 2019 offers a synoptic overview and diagnosis of the Problem. |
- Defining Knowledge, Misc (153)
- Knowledge as a Natural Kind (34)
- Primitivism about Knowledge (111)
- The Concept of Knowledge (146)
- Epistemic Luck (236)
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