Sunday, March 17, 2019
The Subset of Belief
Every Proposition fits into one of three Sets:
Set1) No Truth-Value - Opinion
Set2) Do Not Know Truth-Value - Belief
Set3) Know Truth-Value - Knowledge
As Set1, Set2, and Set3 form an all-inclusive trichotomy, so also does Opinion, Belief, and Knowledge.
Two Assertions About what Belief Is
1) Belief is the probabilistic subset of Set2.
- Know - Do Not Know - Opinion
2) Knowledge is a subset of Belief
- Set3 is a subset of Set2
Truth-values we Know - Knowledge
Set3 is NOT a subset of Set2, ergo Knowledge is NOT a subset of Belief.
Belief is the probabilistic subset of the Do Not Know Set(Set2).
As Set1 is not synonomous with Set2, it is impossible Belief and Opinion are synonyms.
Proper Terminology
Opinion: A proposition of which it is known the proposition has no truth-value. Eg: A waterfall is beautiful. Beautiful is not a quantifiable attribute of a waterfall.
Belief: A proposition of which the truth-value remains unknown that is to be rationalized based on probability.
Knowledge: A proposition of which the truth-value of a certain pattern in the matter of existence is understood with certainty.
What is truth?
Truth is a word.
What is a word?
A word is a certain pattern in the matter of existence.
Understanding with certainty a certain pattern in the matter of existence, such as a word, is Knowledge.
Friday, September 28, 2018
Philosophy
A Philosopher, being a lover of wisdom, understands:
In all matters, it is wise to properly separate things you Know, from things one does you Do Not Know, and also from Opinion. It is the fool that mixes them.The trichotomy of Know, Do Not Know, and Opinion is the foundation to all philosophical dialogue.
A Philosopher understands:
All objective terminologhy given to a certain system, is philoophical dialogue. In a different given certain system, the meaning of terminology may change.
For one to assert a thing they Do Not Know is a thing they Know, is irrational. It is not philosophical dialogue, it is arguing.
For one to assert a thing they Do Not Know is an Opinion, is irrational. It is not philosophical dialogue, it is arguing.
Things you Do Not Know are to be held as things to be questioned.
It is irrational to argue "No one can know any thing with absolute certainty.", as according to the dichotomy of certainty vs uncertainty, this would be in your list of things that remain uncertain, therefore it is you admitting to being uncertain if it is possible to know a thing for certain or not, therefore you are only asking "Is it possible to know a thing for certain or not?".
Philosophical skepticism is understanding there are things known for certain and there are things that remain uncertain, and understanding that with proof and reproof can a thing be known for certain.
The Philosophy of Knowing and Not Knowing
Know - Do Not Know - Opinion
1) No truth-value exists.
2) The truth-value is unknown.
3) The truth-value is known.
eg: the waterfall is boring
eg: if the lochness monster exists or not.
eg: if bigfoot exists or not.
eg: what time my clock displayed when I turned my coffee pot on to make coffee.
eg: my home address.
eg: my approximate height.
eg: every truth is singular.
eg: no word has an inherent meaning.
Deconstructing Justified True Belief
1. I know how to spell the word "know".
2. I know my dad is my biological father.
The first is known with certainty, therefore is knowledge. The second includes a degree of uncertainty, therefore is a justified true belief which may or may not be true.
The corrected statements:
1. I know how to spell the word "know".
2. I truly believe my dad is my biological father.
Epistemological Certainty - Knowledge and Justified True Belief are two completely different things.
Fixing Justified True Belief
Proposition P is an uncertainty.
An agent S "truly believes" that a proposition P is true if and only if agent S is justified in believing that P is true, else proposition P is not rational.
Justification
Justification must be that of a real system.
The real system of Mom, Dad, and you:
Mom: I know your Dad is your biological father.
Dad: I truly believe I am your biological father.
JTB: I truly believe my dad is my biological father.
The real system of Christopher Columbus:
I know of many sources.
JTB: I truly believe Christopher Columbus existed when it is said he did.<
The real system of the Gettier Problem:
President to Smith: Jones is getting the job.
Smith to self: I truly believe the President.
President to Smith: You got the job.
Conclusion
Justified True Belief is not sufficient for knowledge.
Gettier Problem - Not A Problem
This is about the Gettier problem and how it's not actually a problem, but a fallacy of induction.
Case 1. The case’s protagonist is Smith.
Smith and Jones have applied for a certain job.
Smith has been told by the company president that Jones will get the job.
Smith has evidence of there being ten coins in Jones’s pocket. (He had counted them himself — an odd but imaginable circumstance.)
Smith combines the testimonial evidence of the company president and the knowledge of Jones having ten coins, and proceeds to infer that the one that will get the job has ten coins in their pocket.
(As the present article proceeds, we will refer to this belief several times more. For convenience, therefore, let us call it belief b.)
Notice that Smith is not thereby guessing. On the contrary; his belief b enjoys a reasonable amount of justificatory support. There is the company president’s testimony; there is Smith’s observation of the coins in Jones’s pocket; and there is Smith’s proceeding to infer belief b carefully and sensibly from that other evidence. Belief b is thereby justified — supported by evidence which is reasonable. As it happens, belief b is true — although not in the way in which Smith was expecting it to be true. For it is Smith who will get the job, and Smith himself has ten coins in his pocket. These two facts combine to make his belief b true. Nevertheless, neither of those facts is something that, on its own, was known by Smith. Is his belief b therefore not knowledge? In other words, does Smith fail to know that the person who will get the job has ten coins in his pocket? Surely so (thought Gettier).
And here is the Gettier problem fixed.
It is not mentioned if the president makes the final decision in this matter.
Smith has been told by the president Jones will get the job.
Smith knows Jones has ten coins.
Smith does not know how many coins he has.
Smith infers that "whoever will get the job has ten coins in their pocket". This is incompletely as Smith negates the possibility he also may have ten coins in his pocket.
Rephrasing this properly so the coins are meaningless, which they are, Smith is attempting to infer: Jones will get the job and he will not. This is a fallacy of induction due to the fact that a single claim by a single individual(the president) is not enough to make a conclusion.
The Gettier problem asserts Smith "enjoys a reasonable amount of justificatory support." due to "the company president’s testimony", therefore Smith does "truly believe" Jones will get the job.
What is true: Smith believes the president.
As it turns out, Smith gets the job and not Jones.
The Gettier problem reveals how a belief that is both justified and rational, can be wrong.
Münchhausen Trilemma
It states every proof is either circular, regressive, or axiomatic assertions.
So, I was thinking ...
Every human knows a thing no other human knows. Also, every human knows a thing no other human knows nor can know, which is called special knowledge. That every human is special is neither circular, regressive, nor simply an assertion. It is an axiomatic truth, knowledge.
The proposition "I am" is neither circular, nor infinitely regressive, nor is it a mere assertion.
That "I Am" is supported by the certain pattern in the matter of existence that I am. I am THAT I am. WHAT I am is a different matter altogether.
Proof is found in the instanteous and transcendental nature of a realization, in understanding a certain pattern in the matter of existence.
What is truth?
Truth is a word.
What is a word?
A word is a certain pattern in the matter of existence.
What is knowledge?
The understanding of a certain pattern in the matter of existence, such as a word, is knowledge.
Sorry Münchhausen ...