Knowledge Tree
Relations (1)
related 5.81 — strongly supporting 55 facts
Knowledge and testimony are fundamentally linked in epistemology, as testimony is widely debated as a primary source through which individuals acquire, transmit, or generate knowledge {fact:1, fact:10, fact:23}. Epistemologists specifically examine whether a hearer can gain knowledge from a testifier's statements {fact:3, fact:4, fact:31}, and whether the testifier themselves must possess knowledge for it to be successfully transmitted to the recipient {fact:11, fact:34}.
Facts (55)
Sources
Epistemology of Testimony | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 29 facts
quoteJennifer Lackey (2005) states: “non–reductionists maintain that testimony is just as basic a source of justification (knowledge, warrant, entitlement, and so forth) as sense-perception, memory, inference, and the like”.
referenceGreen (2006) argues that a testifier can support knowledge in a hearer even if the testifier lacks conscious phenomenology, such as in the case of a zombie or a machine.
claimSome epistemologists view testimony as a mechanism for spreading knowledge rather than creating it, contrasting it with perception, which is viewed as a source of knowledge for the epistemic community as a whole.
claimIf a testifier is seriously worried about their own reliability, such as fearing they are a brain in a vat, a hearer cannot reasonably gain knowledge by relying on that testifier's testimony.
perspectiveJennifer Lackey disputes the account of knowledge as the norm of assertion, as proposed by Timothy Williamson, by arguing that it is proper for a testifier to assert a proposition even if they do not know or believe it, provided the testimony is reliable.
claimThe epistemology of testimony involves analyzing the external conditions required for a recipient (S) to gain knowledge from a testifier (T), specifically questioning whether the testifier must know the proposition (p) herself, whether the testimony must be true, and whether the testifier must reliably testify.
claimIn the case of a testifier with pathological lies and misperceptions, it is not obvious that a recipient can gain knowledge from their statements, as the testifier appears insane, and a recipient would need to know the testifier is a reliable speaker despite their condition to gain knowledge.
claimAt time t, the testifier's (T) belief and testimony are unreliable, but at time t+Δt, the testifier also knows that p because the testifier can rely on the failure of the agent or mechanism (A) to correct the testimony.
claimThe 'Not-Testimony' response suggests that in cases where a testifier is unreliable, a hearer's belief may be sustained by the hearer's independent knowledge rather than the testimony alone.
claimIf T tells S that p at time t, and it would take A at least time Δt to correct T's testimony if it were false, S's belief at time t is not safe, but S's belief at time t+Δt may constitute knowledge.
claimGoldberg argues that at time t+Δt, T also knows that p because T has the right to rely on A's failure to correct the testimony that p, making T's testimony safe and reliable at that later time.
quoteGraham (2000) posits that "knowledge is not transferred through communication, rather Information is conveyed."
claimA hearer's (S) knowledge derived from a testifier (T) is considered shaky when the testimony is true only because of matching errors in the hearer's assumptions and the testifier's perception.
perspectiveRobert Audi argues that students cannot gain knowledge from a teacher who does not believe the lesson they are teaching, stating that if students simply take the word of a teacher who would deceive them when job retention requires it, it is highly doubtful that this testimonial origin provides an adequate basis for knowledge.
claimIf the testifier (T) tells the hearer (S) that p at time t, and the agent or mechanism (A) requires time Δt to correct false testimony, the hearer's belief is not safe at time t, but may become knowledge at time t+Δt after the agent or mechanism has had the opportunity to correct the testimony.
claimKnowledge-preservationism is the thesis that a subject's testimonially-based knowledge that a proposition is true requires the speaker to also know that proposition.
claimJennifer Lackey presents examples where a testifier (T) suffers from skeptical worries or believes their perceptual abilities are faulty, which challenges whether a hearer (S) can acquire knowledge from that testifier's testimony.
accountIn a case discussed by Graham (2000b), a testifier (T) cannot distinguish between two twins (A and B), but the hearer (S) knows that twin B could not have knocked over a vase; therefore, when the testifier claims twin A knocked over the vase, the hearer's belief is sustained by the hearer's independent knowledge that twin B did not do it.
claimMichael Dummett suggests that both memory and testimony are merely means of preserving or transmitting knowledge rather than creating it, and that both are direct and do not require supporting beliefs.
claimSanford Goldberg argues that the hearer's (S) belief is safe because the presence of an agent or mechanism (A) would prevent the testifier's (T) false testimony from being believed, even though the testifier's testimony is unsafe because it is based on usually misleading evidence.
claimPeter Graham (2006) argues that the fact that one source of knowledge can defeat another does not imply that the defeated source depends on inferential support from the other, nor does it show that testimony is inferior to perception.
claimSanford Goldberg suggests that beliefs partly based on defective testimony can constitute knowledge if the other part of the belief's basis, specifically the guaranteeing function of the agent or mechanism (A), cures the defect in the testimony.
claimSeveral philosophers have endorsed the principle that a recipient of testimony can only come to know what is testified to if the testifier knows the subject matter of their assertion.
quoteGalen Strawson (1994) suggests that testimony as a source of belief requires other sources like perception, stating: "[T]he employment of perception and memory is a necessary condition of the acquisition and retention of any knowledge (or belief) which is communicated linguistically…"
perspectiveEpistemologists debate whether a testifier must possess knowledge of a statement for the recipient of that testimony to also possess knowledge of it.
claimGoldberg argues that in the 'Yankees-actually-won' case, the hearer's belief is safe and counts as knowledge because the hearer utilizes clues about the testifier's reliability—such as eye contact—in addition to the testimony itself, even when the testifier's own belief is based on wishful thinking.
quoteMichael Dummett (1994) stated: "In the case of testimony … if the concept of knowledge is to be of any use at all, and if we are to be held to know anything resembling the body of truths we normally take ourselves to know, the non-inferential character of our acceptance of what others tell us must be acknowledged as an epistemological principle, rather than a mere psychological phenomenon. Testimony should not be regarded as a source, and still less as a ground, for knowledge: it is the transmission from one individual to another of knowledge acquired by whatever means."
quoteFricker (2006b) states: "When the hearer [S] … believes [T] because she takes his speech at face value, as an expression of knowledge, then … [S]’s belief in what she is told is grounded in her belief that T knows what he asserted."
claimFor a subject S to acquire knowledge through a testifier T's testimony, the proposition p must be true, and the testifier T must be properly connected to the fact that p, satisfying an environmental condition.
Epistemological Problems of Testimony plato.stanford.edu 11 facts
claimA primary motivation for the Transmission View is the analogy between memory and testimony, which suggests that just as one cannot acquire memorial knowledge of a proposition today without having known it previously, one cannot acquire testimonial knowledge of a proposition from a speaker who does not know it themselves.
referenceWright (2016a) provides a discussion of epistemological views where testimony transmits knowledge while simultaneously generating justification.
formulaThe Transmission View necessity condition (TV-N) states that for every speaker A and hearer B, B knows proposition p on the basis of A's testimony only if A also knows p.
claimRobert Audi (1997) maintains that while testimony can generate justification, it can only transmit knowledge.
formulaThe Transmission View sufficiency condition (TV-S) states that for every speaker A and hearer B, if A knows proposition p, B comes to believe p based on A's testimony, and B has no undefeated defeaters for believing p, then B comes to know p.
claimRecent epistemological research on whether testimony generates or transmits knowledge focuses on distinguishing between different versions of TV-N and TV-S to determine which versions avoid specific epistemic problems.
claimThe disjunctive account of testimony captures both the intentional act performed by a speaker and the sense in which testimony serves as a source of knowledge and justified belief regardless of the speaker's original intent.
perspectiveCritics of Global Reductionism argue that it is a mistake to treat testimony as a unified, homogeneous category of knowledge, because the reliability of testimony varies significantly depending on the subject matter, such as the difference between music preferences and political opinions.
accountIn the 'Persistent Believer' case, Persia ignores her eye doctor Eyal's (incorrect) testimony that her vision is unreliable, sees a badger, and forms a true belief about the badger. Persia then tells her friend Fred about the badger. Because Fred is unaware of Eyal's misleading testimony and has reason to trust Persia, Fred acquires knowledge of the badger's presence based on Persia's testimony, even though Persia herself lacked justification for her belief due to the undefeated defeater provided by Eyal.
claimThe 'Second Big Question' in epistemology asks whether testimony can generate knowledge or merely transmit it, specifically whether a hearer can acquire knowledge from a speaker who does not know the proposition themselves.
claimSteven L. Reynolds argues about the relationship between testimony, knowledge, and epistemic goals in his 2002 paper published in Philosophical Studies.
Epistemology - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu 5 facts
claimThe necessary truth approach to justifying testimony faces the difficulty that one cannot acquire knowledge from sources whose reliability is unknown.
claimTestimony is a source of knowledge that is not distinguished by having its own cognitive faculty; rather, acquiring knowledge through testimony involves coming to know a proposition on the basis of someone else stating that proposition.
claimFor true beliefs to qualify as knowledge, they must originate from sources considered reliable, which include perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony.
claimFor a belief to qualify as knowledge, it must originate from sources considered reliable, such as perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony, rather than psychological factors like desires, emotional needs, prejudice, or biases.
perspectiveExternalists argue that testimony is a valid source of knowledge if and only if the information comes from a reliable source.
Epistemology (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2019 Edition) plato.stanford.edu 3 facts
accountLearning about the July 22, 2005 terrorist attack in Sharm el-Sheikh, which killed at least 88 people, by reading the Washington Post is an example of acquiring knowledge through testimony.
claimThe proposal that trust in testimonial sources is a necessary truth faces the challenge that knowledge cannot be acquired from sources whose reliability is unknown.
claimThe epistemological puzzle regarding testimony is determining why testimony serves as a source of knowledge.
Virtue Epistemology - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu 2 facts
claimWayne Riggs (2009) argues that if Morris were asked about the tower's location shortly after receiving testimony, he would be out of line to assert the location as fact, which suggests he does not actually possess knowledge.
claimWayne Riggs (2009) argues that it is unclear if Morris knows the location of the tower, suggesting that casual, unreflective acceptance of testimony should not necessarily count as knowledge.
Epistemology - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu 1 fact
accountLearning the time by asking a person and receiving an answer is an example of acquiring knowledge through testimony.
Epistemology | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 1 fact
claimKnowledge can be transmitted between individuals through testimony, where a person's justification for a belief is based on a trusted source confirming its truth.
Epistemology - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
claimEpistemologists investigate sources of justification, including perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony, to discover how knowledge arises.
Social Epistemology - Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science oecs.mit.edu 1 fact
claimNancy Hartsock introduced the notion of standpoint epistemology in 1983, which posits that socially marginalized people who engage in political activism are especially likely to acquire knowledge of the conditions of their marginalization, making their testimony valuable.
Group Testimony: Social Epistemology - Taylor & Francis tandfonline.com 1 fact
claimThe fact that individuals gain much of their knowledge through the testimony of others challenges the philosophical position of epistemic individualism.