What Does It Mean to Know Something?• Externalism: I know something if my

belief correctly matches the “external” world (even if I don’t know how it does)

– A belief is warranted if it is based on a procedure that yields true beliefs; and it is justified if it is based on reliable information produced by such a procedure (reliabilism)

– Production of such information is due to facts about the world (naturalism)

Plantinga

An Objection to Externalism

Even if the information I have is reliable and correct, I cannot be

said to know it unless I (internally) know that it is reliable and correct

Keith Lehrer

• Good thinkers learn to spot what is reliable and correct by developing virtues of mind. For example, they strive to: accept reliable testimony, avoid hasty

generalizations, consider counter-arguments, be open-minded, persevere in inquiry, integrate beliefs, explain complex sets of data, recognize how knowledge is social

this is not a procedure; it is a way of life

Linda Zagzebski

Virtue Epistemology