Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
Stability Thesis (RST) which combine to create the Reliability Action Thesis (RAT). SAT states that stable true beliefs more commonly produce successful action than regular true beliefs. RST claims that reliably acquiring knowledge is what promotes this stability. Finally, RAT states that reliabilist knowledge (true belief acquired through a reliable process) creates successful and useful action for long periods of time. 13 When an agent who possesses T2 makes a claim outside their knowledge base, they’re unable to properly assess the reliability of their knowledge acquisition process. A trespasser may have the necessary skills needed to acquire the evidence from another field, but because they lack the expertise in that field, they’re unable to properly assess the reliability of the evidence. They simply don’t have all the tools they need to assess whether what they’ve come to believe is true or not, and it’d be epistemically irresponsible for them to think they do. Moreover, if they do happen to come to a true belief, they’ll feel vindicated for their actions and are at risk of using the same unreliable process again. Luckily, “if one is using an actually unreliable method… [it] will tend to be detected in due time” . 14 So, the trespasser and bullshitter both talk about things that they don’t know about, and whether they’re aware of it or not this leaves them with an unreliable knowledge-acquisition process that is unconcerned with the truth. This process is exactly what cultivates the epistemic neglect of T3. A big part of this trait is the confirmation bias that is present as the trespasser tries to confirm their hypotheses. Oswald and Grosjean state that confirmation bias occurs when
13 Erik J. Olsson, “Knowledge, Truth, and Bullshit: Reflections on Frankfurt,” in Midwest Studies in Philosophy: Truth and Its Deformities, e d. Peter A. French and Howard K. Wettstein (Wiley, 2008). 94– 110. 14 Olsson, 100.
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