Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Fred Dretske — Carmelics
    Thinkers/Fred Dretske
    Fred Dretske

    Fred Dretske

    contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy

    1932 – 2013

    Fred Dretske (1932-2013) was an American philosopher known for his influential work in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of information. He developed an information-theoretic account of knowledge and belief, and defended externalist theories of mental content and perception.

    WWikipediaSEPStanford Encyclopedia

    Notable Achievements

    1

    Developed an information-theoretic theory of knowledge in 'Knowledge and the Flow of Information' (1981)

    2

    Formulated the relevant alternatives theory of knowledge

    3

    Advanced externalist naturalistic theories of mental representation and content

    4

    Authored 'Seeing and Knowing' (1969), a foundational work on perceptual knowledge

    5

    Contributed the influential 'conclusive reasons' account of knowledge

    Positions & Arguments

    (3)

    Philosophy of Language

    claim

    The semantics of a formal system rich enough to contain elementary mathematics cannot be fully defined in terms of mathematical functions within that same system.

    Truth & Knowledge

    claim

    The semantics of a formal system rich enough to contain elementary mathematics cannot be fully defined in terms of mathematical functions within that same system.

    claim

    The 'no false lemmas' condition is not a successful general solution to the Gettier problem

    Skepticism

    claim

    CP2 — the claim that we are not justified in denying the skeptical hypothesis — cannot be supported by appealing to the undetectability of skeptical scenarios alone

    At a Glance

    Ideas

    3

    Topics

    3

    Era

    contemporary

    Tradition

    Analytic Philosophy

    Topic Influence

    Truth & Knowledge2
    Philosophy of Language1
    Skepticism1

    Related Thinkers

    David Lewis3 sharedImmanuel Kant3 sharedBertrand Russell3 sharedBrian Skyrms3 sharedDavid Hume3 sharedStathis Psillos3 sharedAristotle3 sharedBas van Fraassen3 shared

    Dive Deeper

    Explore Truth & Knowledge→See Philosophy of Language→