Here's one thing that I believe (as opposed to know) contributes to the confusion: many research methods texts, when discussing C.S. Pierce's ways of fixing beliefs (e.g., authority, tenacity, etc.), refer to them as ways of knowing. ________________________________ From: Marc Carter [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:22 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
That's certainly how I learned it. "Knowledge" is justified, true belief. One can have true beliefs, but without justification they do not rise to the level of knowledge. One cannot "know" something that is false. So beliefs that are not amenable to empirical justification or sound deductive argumentation cannot be knowledge. At least, that's how I was trained... m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- ________________________________ From: Jim Clark [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 6:57 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things? Hi Only by using the term "knowledge" in a quirky or loose way would it be possible to say one has true knowledge without some sort of rational or empirical justification (I'm not certain that falsifiability is the only such criterion one can use). There is a discussion of this at http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Epistemology That is, in more correct usage, knowledge implies or assumes justification in a belief. Without sound justification, beliefs do not qualify as knowledge, no matter how certain we might be about our unsubstantiated belief. Indeed, isn't much of what we try to teach our students about how to substantiate beliefs (i.e., hypotheses) so that beliefs/speculations/hypotheses become sound knowledge about human behaviour? If we start to admit any strongly held belief as being "true knowledge," irrespective of its justification, the discipline is really lost. Of course, most people who do want to extend "truth" into a wider domain usually are quite restrictive about what beliefs they want to admit as true. Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ________________________________ The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13390.2bbc1cc8fd0e5f9e0b91f01828c87814&n=T&l=tips&o=5859 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-5859-13390.2bbc1cc8fd0e5f9e0b91f01828c87...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-5859-13390.2bbc1cc8fd0e5f9e0b91f01828c87...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5863 or send a blank email to leave-5863-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
