Epistemic minimalism is the epistemological thesis that mere true belief is sufficient for knowledge. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding That is, the meaning of "Smith knows that it rained today" is accurately and completely analyzed by these two conditions:
- Smith believes that it rained today.
- It is true that it rained today.
The thesis is called minimalist by way of contrast with the competing accounts, which more or less universally require that true belief is necessary but insufficient for knowledge—that is, that a belief needs to be true in order to count as knowledge, but that truth alone is not enough—that something else is needed. Traditionally, that something else was held to be evidential justification; today it is usually held to be either justification and also some other condition, or else some other condition instead of justification, which will avoid the Gettier problem. Theory of justification is a part of Epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of Propositions and Beliefs Epistemologists are concerned The Gettier problem is considered a problem in modern Epistemology issuing from counter-examples to the definition of knowledge as justified true belief (JTB
Whatever the analysis, though, the standard view (both pre-Gettier and post-Gettier) pushes for narrower analyses of knowledge than mere true belief. Epistemic minimalism turns in exactly the opposite direction, and argues for a much more inclusive analysis--one which includes even Gettier cases, lucky guesses, and completely unjustified beliefs, as long as they happen to be true. The thesis is a minimalism in the sense that it eschews the additional requirements piled on top of true belief and argues that the intuitive reasons given for the JTB analysis and its descendants are either misleading or misunderstood.
The most famous (or infamous) proponent of epistemic minimalism is Crispin Sartwell (1991). Crispin Gallegher Sartwell (born 1958 is an American Philosophy professor Anarchist and Journalist. The view has been criticized by many epistemologists, with an influential criticism being delivered by William Lycan (1994). William G Lycan (b September 26, 1945, Milwaukee Wisconsin) is a noted American Philosopher teaching at the University
References
- Sartwell, C. (1991): Knowledge is Merely True Belief in American Philosophical Quarterly 28.
- Sartwell, C. (1992): Why Knowledge is Merely True Belief in The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Apr. , 1992), 167-180.
- Lycan, W. (1994): Sartwell's Minimalist Analysis of Knowing in Philosophical Studies 73.
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