Knowledge audiobook cover - A Very Short Introduction

Knowledge

A Very Short Introduction

Jennifer Nagel

★ 4.2 / 5(102 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
EducationPhilosophy

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to Knowledge — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Knowledge

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Knowledge

Mind Map

Knowledge
Nature of Knowledge+
Philosophical Approaches+
Sources of Knowledge+
Context & Intuition+
Communal Knowledge+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 9
According to the text, what differentiates a 'fact' from 'knowledge'?
  • A. Knowledge is a naturally appearing resource, while facts are artificially constructed.
  • B. Facts are subjective, while knowledge is inherently objective.
  • C. A fact only becomes knowledge when a person accesses and knows it.
  • D. Facts are based on belief, while knowledge is based on certainty.
Question 2 of 9
How did the Pyrrhonian skeptics differ from the Academic skeptics in ancient Greece?
  • A. Pyrrhonians believed true knowledge comes from innate ideas, while Academics relied on the senses.
  • B. Pyrrhonians refused to conclude whether knowledge was possible, whereas Academics firmly believed knowledge was impossible.
  • C. Pyrrhonians accepted the Stoic view of impressions, while Academics completely rejected it.
  • D. Pyrrhonians believed truth is subjective, while Academics believed truth is objective.
Question 3 of 9
What is the fundamental difference between Rene Descartes' and John Locke's approaches to knowledge?
  • A. Descartes believed knowledge comes from sensation and reflection, while Locke believed it is innately built into humans.
  • B. Descartes argued that knowledge is impossible, while Locke argued that it is highly probable.
  • C. Descartes believed humans are born with innate truths, while Locke argued that knowledge is acquired through sensory experience.
  • D. Descartes focused on communal knowledge, while Locke focused solely on individual rationalism.
Question 4 of 9
What flaw does philosopher Edmund Gettier expose in the 'classical analysis' of knowledge (justified true belief)?
  • A. He shows that individuals can possess knowledge even if it is predicated on a false belief.
  • B. He proves that truth is entirely subjective and therefore cannot be justified.
  • C. He argues that a belief must have a direct causal connection to a fact to be considered knowledge.
  • D. He demonstrates that human memory is too flawed to ever justify a belief.
Question 5 of 9
In the debate over how we know Mount Everest is the tallest mountain, how would an 'internalist' approach the question?
  • A. By trusting the secondhand testimony of geography teachers and textbooks without question.
  • B. By arguing that automatic thinking and a general relationship to the fact are sufficient for knowledge.
  • C. By asserting that you must have clear-cut supporting evidence and systematic first-person thinking to truly know it.
  • D. By claiming that the height of Mount Everest is subjective and depends heavily on the observer's context.
Question 6 of 9
According to the text, how do 'reductionist' philosophers view secondhand testimony as a source of knowledge?
  • A. They reject it entirely, arguing that true knowledge only comes from direct personal perception.
  • B. They accept it only if the informant genuinely believes the information they are sharing.
  • C. They argue that testimony is a standalone form of knowledge that requires no other cognitive faculties.
  • D. They believe we can use critical faculties like inference and memory to assess the reliability of the testimony.
Question 7 of 9
What is the core idea behind the 'relevant alternatives theory' in contextualism?
  • A. Knowledge is immutable and does not change regardless of the alternatives presented.
  • B. The criteria for what counts as knowledge depend on the specific situation and what alternatives are reasonable in that setting.
  • C. We can only claim to know something if we have systematically disproved every possible alternative, no matter how unlikely.
  • D. Skeptics and average people can never agree because they are always considering the exact same alternatives.
Question 8 of 9
What limitation do humans face when using 'mind reading' (epistemological intuition) to guess what others know?
  • A. We are completely unable to tell if someone lacks knowledge; we can only tell what they do know.
  • B. We suffer from an egocentric bias, making it difficult to subtract our own knowledge when assessing someone else's.
  • C. We can only track a maximum of two mental states at any given time.
  • D. We are unable to use this intuition to manipulate others, unlike chimpanzees and other primates.
Question 9 of 9
How does the author illustrate the concept of 'communal knowledge'?
  • A. By comparing the human brain to a computer network that downloads shared information.
  • B. By describing an orchestra where individual musicians know their parts, but the group collectively knows a whole symphony.
  • C. By using the example of stock traders sharing insider information to outsmart the market.
  • D. By explaining how a detective uses multiple eyewitness accounts to piece together a crime.

Knowledge — Full Chapter Overview

Knowledge Summary & Overview

Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction (2014) is an accessible introduction to the complex field of epistemology. Epistemology is concerned with the nature of knowledge itself. What can we know? And how do we know that we know it? Knowledge surveys epistemological thinking from the ancient Greeks to contemporary philosophy, shining a bright light on this fascinating field of thought.

Who Should Listen to Knowledge?

  • Philosophy buffs and newbies alike
  • Skeptics who take everything with a grain of salt
  • Knowledge workers interested in delving deeper into knowledge itself.

About the Author: Jennifer Nagel

Jennifer Nagel is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. A highly respected epistemologist, her work focuses on the nexus of knowledge and belief. In addition to Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction, she’s written numerous academic articles on the topic of knowledge

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App