1. Knowledge
LO:
To understand the distinction between three different types of knowledge.
To learn some basic epistemological distinctions.
To understand the tripartite definition of knowledge.

2. Epistemology The definition of knowledge – what is knowledge?
(ii) The origin of concepts and the nature of knowledge – where do ideas/concepts and knowledge come from?
(iii) Perception – what are the immediate objects of perception? Can we know what we see is really there?

3. Epistemology Also often known as ‘Theory of Knowledge’.
Epistemology = derived from the Ancient Greek words episteme meaning ‘knowledge’ and logos meaning ‘account’, or ‘rationale’.
Epistemology discusses the nature of knowledge and justified belief.
Encourage pupils to take notes

4. Topic 1 Distinctions between types of knowledge and the tripartite view of knowledge.
Ask pupils to write this title

5. Epistemological Definitions
2) To understand the distinction between three different types of knowledge.
Epistemological Definitions
Types of knowledge
Can you make any distinctions between these claims to knowledge? Discuss in pairs.
I know Charlotte.
I know how to swim.
I know that the Earth orbits the sun.
I know Paris well.
I know how to bake a soufflé.
I know that Socrates was a philosopher.
I know what pineapple tastes like.
Give out sheet after this activity

6. Knowledge by Acquaintance
I know Charlotte.
I know Paris well.
I know what pineapple tastes like.
Knowing a person, place or thing.
i.e. We might say we know Charlotte because we have met her or that we know Paris in virtue of having visited, or know the taste of pineapple having tried it.
Need not involve any capacity to give a verbal report of what it entails. i.e. I may know the taste of pineapple without being able to describe it and without knowing any facts about it.
Give out sheet and ask pupils to fill in the columns from notes on the board.

7. Practical Knowledge I know how to swim. I know how to bake a soufflé.
Knowledge of how to do something.
Such knowledge involves a capacity to perform a certain kind of task, but need not involve having any explicit understanding of what such a performance entails. i.e. I may know how to swim without being able to explain how.
So, as with knowledge by acquaintance, practical knowledge is independent of any ability to communicate it in language or of having any conscious knowledge of precisely what one knows.

8. Factual/ Propositional Knowledge
I know that the Earth orbits the sun.
I know that Socrates was a philosopher.
This is knowing that something is the case.
Unlike the other two types of knowledge, when we know some fact, what we know can, in principle, be expressed in language.
i.e. If someone claims to know that Socrates was a philosopher, he or she claims that the sentence ‘Socrates was a philosopher’ is true.
What is asserted by a sentence, that is to say, what it means or affirms about the world, is called a proposition and for this reason factual knowledge is often called propositional knowledge.
Now, have a go at sorting the claims to knowledge on your worksheet into knowledge by acquaintance, Practical knowledge, Factual/Propositional Knowledge.
Pupils then have a go at sorting claims to knowledge on their sheets.

9. Epistemological definitions
3) To learn some basic epistemological distinctions.
Truth, Belief, Proposition and Justification
In pairs, discuss a possible definition for each of the words below.
Truth
Belief
Justification
Proposition
Match up the words with their definitions on your worksheet.

10. Epistemological definitions
3) To learn some basic epistemological distinctions.
Truth, Belief, Proposition and Justification
One account of this concept is that it involves a correspondence between a belief or a proposition and the world. If Sam’s belief that the cat is on the mat corresponds with the world, i.e. with the facts, then it is true. So his belief will be true if the cat is indeed on the mat.
This is what a statement says or asserts about the world, i.e. ‘the cat is on the mat’. Like beliefs, these can be true or false.
The support or grounds for holding a belief, which gives someone a reason for believing it or makes them justified in believing it.
This is a state of mind or thought about the world. It is a mental representation which claims that something is the case, or that a proposition is true. It will have some degree of evidence in support of it but is normally regarded as weaker than knowledge, either because knowledge cannot turn out to be false, or because it requires stronger evidence.

11. So, what are the conditions for knowledge?
LO:
To understand the distinction between three different types of knowledge.
To learn some basic epistemological distinctions.
To understand the tripartite definition of knowledge.
So, what are the conditions for knowledge?
...What must be the case when someone knows something?
... Under what circumstances do we say that someone has knowledge?
Because Factual/Propositional knowledge is expressed in language it involves holding beliefs, unlike practical knowledge or knowledge by acquaintance.
If I have knowledge of certain facts, I believe certain propositions to be true; in other words, I assent to these propositions.
Because propositional knowledge deals with knowing facts, and so with having beliefs that can either be true or false, it is the kind of knowledge with which philosophers have been primarily concerned.

12. The Search for a Definition of Knowledge...
Read through these statements and decide for each whether or not: (a) you know it, (b) you don’t know it, (c) you believe it, or (d) you don’t believe it.
Think about what has to be the case for you to claim you know something rather than simply believing it.
There is life elsewhere in the universe.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Your hand is in front of you right now.
Colours exist in the world.
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
2+2=4.
Miracles happen.
(viii) The world is round.
(ix) The sun will come up tomorrow.
(x) You are not dreaming at the moment.
(xi) Siberia exists and is very cold in winter.
(xii) Men have landed on the moon.
(xiii) God exists.
Don’t go through examples per se, but ask pupils what the difference is between knowledge and belief.

13. The Tripartite Definition of Knowledge
Knowledge as justified, true belief.
If someone knows a proposition then three conditions must be satisfied: the person must believe the proposition, it must be true, and it must be justified.
S knows that p if and only if: (e.g. Sharon knows that Paris is the capital of France if and only if...)
S believes that p (the belief condition; e.g. Sharon believes Paris is the capital of France)
p is true (the truth condition; e.g. Paris is indeed the Capital of France)
S has adequate or sufficient evidence for p, or is justified in believing p (The evidence condition; e.g. Sharon read that Paris is the capital of France in an encyclopaedia).
Ask pupils to fill in the back of their worksheet.

14. Redundancy= unnecessary/irrelevant detail.
LO:
To understand the distinction between three different types of knowledge.
To learn some basic epistemological distinctions.
To understand the tripartite definition of knowledge.
Before you go...
1) What is propositional knowledge? (2 marks)
AQA: The examiner is looking for: ‘A clear and correct answer, with no significant redundancy’.
Redundancy= unnecessary/irrelevant detail.

15. What is the difference between true belief and knowledge?
Homework –
What is the difference between true belief and knowledge?
Read pp (Plato on true belief and knowledge) in the blue textbook
Write an answer to the following question in your notes - What is the difference between true belief and knowledge according to Plato? (aim for about half a page)
Extra challenge: do you agree with Plato’s condition for knowledge?