Seeking TruthTheory of Knowledge: Constructing

Knowledge

About the Topic• Knowledge Claims are a different way

of gaining knowledge than skill or experience because we don’t ourselves collect any personal evidence to support whether or not the claim is true.

• In order to determine whether or not a knowledge claim is true we must go through a process to check validity of the claim and form our belief about whether its true or not.

Knowledge Claims and Critical

Thinking• In order to determine whether or

not a knowledge claim is true or not we must think critically about the claim

• Thinking Critically - Actively critiquing or questioning the validity or truth of a knowledge claim

• Checks for Truth - We think critically about knowledge claims by checking the claim for truth through questions

Skill & Experience are very different ways of

gaining knowledge from Knowledge

Claims

≠

Skill/Experience

KnowledgeClaim

Knowledge claims must be verified through critical

thinking, and critical thinking happens through

checking for truth by questioning

Receiveclaim

Critique claim

Use questionsto critique

claim

Applying Questions to Knowledge

Claims• Applying questions to knowledge claims reveals the justifications or lack of justification for the claim

• Coherence Check - Is the knowledge claim consistent with what I already know? (Use your ability reason. Is evidence supporting this claim not in contradiction with other evidence?)

• Example: It doesn’t get cold in Milwaukee during the winter. = Not consistent with what we know, which means there’s potential it’s not true.

• Correspondence Check - Does the knowledge claim correspond to reality or how things actually are in the world? (Use your ability to observe and find evidence.)

• Example: Lebron James played in a basketball game for the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. = Consistent with what we already know. Lebron just moved from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which means there’s potential it’s true.

• Pragmatic Check - Does this knowledge claim work? (Test the claim for practical consequences or expected outcomes.)

• Example: Gravity makes things move towards the earth. = True when I tested the claim by letting go of an object in my hand, which means there’s potential it’s true.

• Whether you believe a knowledge claim to be true or not will depend on where the results of the questions place the claim on a spectrum from “faint possibility” to “extreme likelihood”

• “faint possibility”------------------------------ “Unsure”----------------------------”Extreme likelihood”

Summary• Knowledge Claims are a different way of gaining

knowledge than skill or experience because we don’t ourselves collect any personal evidence to support whether or not the claim is true.

• In order to determine whether or not a knowledge claim is true we must go through a process to check validity of the claim and form our belief about whether its true or not.

• In order to determine whether or not a knowledge claim is true or not we must think critically about the claim

• Applying questions to knowledge claims reveals the justifications or lack of justification for the claim

• Whether you believe a knowledge claim to be true or not will depend on where the results of the questions place the claim on a spectrum from “faint possibility” to “extreme likelihood”