Knowledge and the Norm of Assertion E-Book

John Turri

• Herausgeber: Open Book Publishers
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Language is a human universal reflecting our deeply social nature. Among its essential functions, language enables us to quickly and efficiently share information. We tell each other that many things are true—that is, we routinely make assertions. Information shared this way plays a critical role in the decisions and plans we make. In Knowledge and the Norm of Assertion, a distinguished philosopher and cognitive scientist investigates the rules or norms that structure our social practice of assertion. Combining evidence from philosophy, psychology, and biology, John Turri shows that knowledge is the central norm of assertion and explains why knowledge plays this role.Concise, comprehensive, non-technical, and thoroughly accessible, this volume quickly brings readers to the cutting edge of a major research program at the intersection of philosophy and science. It presupposes no philosophical or scientific training. It will be of interest to philosophers and scientists, is suitable for use in graduate and undergraduate courses, and will appeal to general readers interested in human nature, social cognition, and communication.

Leseprobe

KNOWLEDGE AND THE NORM OF ASSERTION

Knowledge and the Norm of Assertion

An Essay in Philosophical Science

John Turri

https://www.openbookpublishers.com

© 2016 John Turri

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for non-commercial purposes, providing attribution is made to the author (but not in any way that suggests that he endorses you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information:

John Turri, Knowledge and the Norm of Assertion: An Essay in Philosophical Science. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0083

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Updated digital material and resources associated with this volume are available at https://www.openbookpublishers.com/isbn/9781783741830#resources

Every effort has been made to identify and contact copyright holders and any omission or error will be corrected if notification is made to the publisher.

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-78374-183-0

ISBN Hardback: 978-1-78374-184-7

ISBN Digital (PDF): 978-1-78374-185-4

ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 978-1-78374-186-1

ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 978-1-78374-187-8

DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0083

Cover image: Rose-Aimée Bélanger, Les chuchoteuses (The Gossipers, 2002), Montreal. Photo by Dan Mason. CC BY 4.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/masondan/3681873678

All paper used by Open Book Publishers is SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative), PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) and Forest Stewardship Council(r)(FSC(r) certified.

Printed in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia by Lightning Source for Open Book Publishers (Cambridge, UK).

For Sarah,in all her intelligence, strength, and beauty.

Love.

Contents

Acknowledgments

ix

Introduction

1

1.

Evidence and Argument

7

Observational Data

7

Experimental Data

11

The Argument

16

The Explanation

16

Prefatory Remarks

18

More Challenging

20

2.

Extensions and Connections

21

Know How

21

Guaranteed Knowledge

25

Knowledge Valued

29

Outstanding Questions

30

Reaching Understanding

30

Liar’s Knowledge

34

3.

Objections and Replies

39

Ignorant Assertions

39

Unlucky Falsehoods

39

Lucky Truths

41

Excuses, Excuses

44

Irrelevant Assessments

47

Weak Challenges

49

Pre-Theoretic Data

49

Apocryphal Paradox

50

Unbelievable Objections

52

Certain Competition

56

No Contest

59

4.

Prospects and Horizons

61

What “Should”?

62

Good Enough?

65

Super Norm?

68

Requisite Truth

68

Requisite Knowledge

71

Inside and Out

72

Intuitive Connections

75

A Coincidence?

75

Why Knowledge?

77

Coda

87

References

89

Index

107

Acknowledgments

For helpful feedback on the manuscript and intellectual comradery, I thank Matthew Benton, Peter Blouw, Wesley Buckwalter, Ori Friedman, Ashley Keefner, and David Rose. Special thanks go to Angelo Turri, who commented generously and insightfully on multiple versions. Thanks to Peter Blouw for work on the index too.

My work on this book was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation.

I am grateful for permission to reuse material from the following publications:

Turri, J. 2012. ‘Preempting Paradox’, Logos & Episteme, 3(4): 659–62.

Turri, J. 2014. ‘Knowledge and Suberogatory Assertion’, Philosophical Studies, 167(3): 557–67.

Buckwalter, W., & Turri, J. 2014. ‘Telling, Showing and Knowing: A Unified Theory of Pedagogical Norms’, Analysis, 74(1): 16–20.

Turri, J. 2015. ‘Evidence of Factive Norms of Belief and Decision’, Synthese, 192(12): 4009–30.

Turri, A., & Turri, J. 2015. ‘The Truth about Lying’, Cognition, 138(C): 161–68.

Turri, J. 2015. ‘Selfless Assertions: Some Empirical Evidence’, Synthese, 192(4): 1221–33.

Turri, J. 2015. ‘Understanding and the Norm of Explanation’, Philosophia 43(4): 1171–75.

I dedicate this book to my daughter Sarah, whose precocious conversational acumen inspired my work on the topic. This is but one of the many ways she has inspired me and those around her. If she chooses, she will one day be a better scientist and writer than I was ever capable of.

Introduction

© John Turri, CC BY-NC-ND http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0083.06

One road closure followed by unusually heavy traffic on the alternate route meant that we were cutting it close. Squeezing the armrest so hard that her fingernails turned white, she grimaced, “How long before we’re there?” “Ten minutes,” I answered, vexed that the upcoming light turned yellow. A few silent moments ensued. The uneasy thought hung over our heads like a menacing storm cloud — we might not make it to the hospital in time. Then our two year old daughter, Sarah, peeped from the back, “Daddy, how you know that?” “Know what?” “That we be there in ten minutes.” “I . . . well . . . ,” I faltered, blinking at the seemingly interminable red light, before continuing confidently in an attempt to reassure her, “. . . we’ll get there in time for Mommy and the baby, honey, don’t worry.” Judging by the look on her face, my reassurance helped. But it would have helped more if I had directly answered her question in the course of reassuring her.

We did get there in time and everything went very well for both mom and baby. A few days later, as our household settled in to its new routine, I thought about the exchange with my daughter on the car ride. As our family experienced a serious and emotional situation, in the midst of all the action, excitement and concern, this wonderful little two year old, in the most natural and unselfconscious way, challenged my statement. And it worked! She asked me how I knew and, with that one innocent little question, stopped me in my conversational tracks.