Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
I. W
The Classical Analysis of Knowledge
hile the exact timeline of its inception remains uncertain, the classical analysis of knowledge has long affirmed its position as one of the most prevalent theories of knowledge in the history of
epistemology. 1 Also referred to as the tripartite analysis of knowledge, the classical account dissects knowledge into three fundamental components: truth, belief, and justification, all of which are individually necessary and jointly sufficient to achieve knowledge. Essentially, where S stands for a subject and P for any proposition, S knows P if and only if: 1. P is true. 2. S believes P. 3. S is justified in believing P. The term justified true belief (JTB) conveniently captures these three conditions, emerging as the cardinal proverb describing the formulation of knowledge. II. The Gettier Problem: A Failure of Justified True Belief In June of 1963, Edmund Gettier notoriously challenged the classical analysis of knowledge in his 2-page work Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Gettier argues that the three traditional components of knowledge - justified true belief - are not jointly sufficient to guarantee knowledge, substantiating his claim with innovative thought experiments known as “Gettier cases.” Gettier cases represent hypothetical scenarios in which an agent obtains justified true belief but, intuitively, lacks knowledge, undermining the joint sufficiency of justified true belief. This predicament posed to
1 Nagel, Jennifer, “ The Analysis of Knowledge ,” in Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction , (Oxford University Press, 2014: 46-59.
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