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    Carmelics

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    Pragmatist thinkers like Dewey argue that knowledge gains... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The claim that intellectual activities are intrinsically good explains why some instances of knowledge are more important than others.

    Pragmatist thinkers like Dewey argue that knowledge gains value from its role in solving concrete problems, not from logical generality.

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Abstract logical systems often fail to guide action in messy real-world contexts where multiple variables interact unpredictably.
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    • 2.Knowledge's ultimate purpose is enabling organisms to survive and flourish, making practical efficacy the primary measure of truth.
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    • 3.Historical progress in medicine, engineering, and agriculture emerged from problem-solving practice, not pure logical deduction.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Logical generality enables knowledge transfer across contexts; problem-specific knowledge has limited application beyond its original domain.
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    • 2.Pure mathematics and theoretical physics produced insights of vast explanatory power despite no immediate practical application.
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    • 3.Conflating instrumental usefulness with truth risks accepting false beliefs if they conveniently solve immediate problems.
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    Key Terms

    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.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedVirtue Ethics1 linked

    Related

    Abstract logical systems often fail to guide action in messy real-world contexts...Conflating instrumental usefulness with truth risks accepting false beliefs if t...Historical progress in medicine, engineering, and agriculture emerged from probl...Knowledge's ultimate purpose is enabling organisms to survive and flourish, maki...
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    Logical generality enables knowledge transfer across contexts; problem-specific ...Pure mathematics and theoretical physics produced insights of vast explanatory p...

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    claim
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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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    The claim that intellectual activities are intrinsically good explains why some ...