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Carmelics
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    Carmelics

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

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Testimonial knowledge is genuinely possible through words

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.A hearer cannot verify a speaker's trustworthiness without prior knowledge that presupposes the very testimonial knowledge in question.
      ?

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    • 2.Any criterion for distinguishing erroneous from true utterances either regresses infinitely or relies on a non-testimonial faculty that does all the epistemic work.
      ?

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    • 3.If non-testimonial faculties suffice to validate testimony, testimony itself contributes nothing irreducible to the production of knowledge.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Wittgenstein's rule-following considerations show that no finite set of utterances determines a unique semantic content, making speaker meaning radically underdetermined.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If the propositional content transmitted through testimony is underdetermined, the hearer forms a belief about their own interpretation rather than the speaker's knowledge.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.A belief formed about one's own interpretation of an utterance does not constitute knowledge transmitted from the speaker, undermining testimony as a genuine epistemic source.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Any instance of knowledge has a mode of production distinct from a process that fails to produce knowledge
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.We are able to distinguish erroneous utterances from true utterances by the processes that produce them
      ?

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    • 3.Erroneous utterances do not count as veritable testimony under the Naiyāyika definition of testimony
      ?

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    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.