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    Brain-in-a-vat scenarios are not among the closest possib... — Carmelics
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    Supports→You do know that you have hands, despite being unable to discriminate between having hands and being a brain-in-a-vat.

    Brain-in-a-vat scenarios are not among the closest possible worlds to actuality, so their epistemic inaccessibility does not defeat knowledge claims grounded in tracking relations.

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    Key Terms

    Brain-in-a-vat scenario(as used in epistemology)
    A thought experiment imagining your brain is floating in a tank of liquid, hooked up to a computer that creates all your experiences—so nothing you perceive is actually real. It's used to explore whether we can really know anything about the world.
    Closest possible worlds(in modal logic and counterfactual conditionals)
    In philosophical thought experiments, these are the imaginary alternative scenarios that are most similar to our actual reality.
    Epistemic
    "Epistemic" relates to knowledge—how we know things, what counts as knowledge, and whether we can trust what we believe to be true. It comes from the Greek word for knowledge and is used to describe questions about the reliability and validity of our beliefs and understanding. For example, "epistemic humility" means acknowledging the limits of what you can actually know for certain.
    Tracking relations(as used in epistemology)
    A philosophical theory saying that you have knowledge when your beliefs reliably 'track' or match what's actually true in the world—your beliefs follow reality like a radar tracks a plane.

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    actuality(Contrasted with non-actuality; ceasing to be actual is equated with death and the loss of all distinctively human properties)
    The state of being actual (as opposed to merely possible), associated with consciousness, embodiment, and lived human properties
    inaccessibility(describing properties of mathematical objects)
    In set theory, a property of certain large numbers (cardinals) that are so big they can't be reached or constructed using standard mathematical operations; they're 'too large to access' through normal means.
    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.
    possible worlds(Leibniz's modal semantics, anticipating contemporary possible-worlds semantics)
    Worlds that have existence in a tenuous sense; fictional worlds used to characterize the nature of possibles that are never actualized

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    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedSkepticism1 linked

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    You do know that you have hands, despite being unable to discriminate between ha...

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