Knowledge Tree
Assurance View
Also known as: Interpersonal View
Facts (11)
Sources
Epistemological Problems of Testimony plato.stanford.edu Apr 1, 2021 10 facts
claimThe Assurance View (also called the Interpersonal View) posits that if a hearer acquires testimonial justification for believing a proposition on the basis of a speaker's say-so, the hearer's belief is justified, at least in part, by the speaker's non-evidential assurance.
claimProponents of the Assurance View maintain that the speech act of telling is central to understanding the relationship between a speaker and their audience, as telling involves a speaker inviting their audience to trust that a proposition is true, effectively guaranteeing the truth of the proposition.
claimProponents of the Assurance View are criticized for 'over-cognizing' testimonial exchange by requiring that both speaker and hearer possess the cognitive capacity to recognize higher-order mental states.
claimThe Assurance View of testimonial justification faces a challenge because assurances often appear epistemically superfluous, meaning they do not change the epistemic status of a belief.
claimJennifer Lackey (2008), Joseph Owens (2006), and Frederick Schmitt (2010) have raised concerns regarding the epistemic status of assurances in testimonial justification.
claimProponents of the Assurance View of testimony argue that when a speaker tells an audience that a proposition p is true, the speaker is assuring the audience that p is the case, thereby establishing an interpersonal relationship between the speaker and the audience.
claimProponents of the Assurance View argue that testimonial justification is non-evidential because a speaker's assurance that a proposition p is true only counts in favor of p if the speaker intends to provide that assurance, whereas evidence (like a fingerprint) counts in favor of a proposition regardless of the agent's intentions.
perspectiveNick Leonard (2016) argues that the Assurance View should be rejected because it excludes young children and people with autism from acquiring testimonial justification, despite evidence that they are capable of acquiring such justification.
claimCritics of the Assurance View object that it is unclear how non-evidential assurances can justify a belief, specifically questioning whether a listener who is the intended recipient of an assurance is epistemically better off than an eavesdropper who hears the same testimony but was not the intended recipient.
claimMiranda Fricker defends an Assurance View, which posits that an individual's belief is justified by a group's assurance that a proposition is true.
Epistemology of Testimony | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 1 fact
claimThe Assurance View of testimony posits that a testifier is not offering evidence to the recipient, but is instead asking the recipient to trust them, which is inconsistent with the recipient basing their belief on evidence.