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    Williamson's knowledge norm of assertion establishes that... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Extremely demanding epistemic norms are sometimes inappropriate even if they can technically be satisfied

    Williamson's knowledge norm of assertion establishes that the threshold for epistemic propriety is fixed by the standard itself, not by the difficulty agents face in meeting it.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Epistemic standards must be objective criteria independent of agents' psychological limitations, or they collapse into mere relativism.
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    • 2.If propriety tracked difficulty rather than truth-conditions, assertion norms would vary wildly across individuals with different cognitive capacities.
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    • 3.Knowledge represents a genuine epistemic achievement; lowering standards based on agent difficulty undermines what makes assertion valuable.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Normative standards governing human conduct must be reachable by ordinarily capable agents, or they become practically incoherent and alienating.
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    • 2.The knowledge norm demands certainty most humans cannot achieve, making virtually all everyday assertions epistemically improper by Williamson's account.
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    • 3.Social norms for assertion evolved to facilitate communication under real cognitive constraints; ignoring difficulty makes the norm disconnected from its function.
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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

    Epistemic standards must be objective criteria independent of agents' psychologi...Extremely demanding epistemic norms are sometimes inappropriate even if they can...If propriety tracked difficulty rather than truth-conditions, assertion norms wo...Knowledge represents a genuine epistemic achievement; lowering standards based o...
    +3 moreShow less
    Normative standards governing human conduct must be reachable by ordinarily capa...Social norms for assertion evolved to facilitate communication under real cognit...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    The knowledge norm demands certainty most humans cannot achieve, making virtuall...