The Gettier Problem and the Inability of Reliabilism’s Proposals to Resolve It

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate Professor, Payame Noor University, Tehran

Abstract

 The Gettier problem is a set of counter examples that challenges the standard definition of knowledge within  epistemology before the second half of the 20th century. According to the standard definition, which we call JTB, knowledge is nothing more than a justified true believing.  The problem, roughly, is that the standard definition does not include the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge, since there might be some counter examples that are not cases of knowledge, even if they are cases of justified true believing.  Since then epistemologists have gone to a lot of trouble to avoid, or resolve, or even to deny, the Gettier problem. One of the main efforts to resolve the problem has been done by a theory called externalism which has two main forms: causal theory and reliabilism. Reliabilism considers the concept or the condition of justification as the main source of the Gettier problem and tries to replace it, accordingly, with a second and different one, i.e. a reliable process. This concept or condition is focused on the role of an external process that creates mostly the true beliefs in a person. This article argues that the externalist-‌reliabilist proposal is not capable of resolving the Gettier problem.

Keywords

Shinakht (A Persian Word Means Knowledge)
Volume 16, Issue 1 - Serial Number 88
September 2023
Pages 125-149

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History

  • Receive Date: 29 September 2020
  • Revise Date: 12 November 2021
  • Accept Date: 30 June 2022

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