The Problem of the Criterion and the Disparities between the Epistemic and the Linguistic Norms of Knowledge
Abstract
What we know is decided in the framework of the linguistic norms
for knowledge ascriptions. Such include not just epistemic conditions but
also communicative ones. Knowledge in communicative context is
conditioned on public agreement upon the question and the nature of the
presented evidence, sincerity of testimony and responsibility in claiming.
This distinction is used here to explain the puzzles surrounding the problem
of the criterion. The disparity between the epistemic principles and the
communicative conditions of knowledge ascriptions is presented here as a
philosophically important question about the role of language in theoryconstruction.