Kipper, Jens ORCID: 0000-0002-8138-0855 (2016). Safety, Closure, and the Flow of Information. Erkenntnis, 81 (5). S. 1109 - 1127. DORDRECHT: SPRINGER. ISSN 1572-8420

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Abstract

In his earlier writings, Fred Dretske proposed an anti-skeptical strategy that is based on a rejection of the view that knowledge is closed under known entailment. This strategy is seemingly congenial with a sensitivity condition for knowledge, which is often associated with Dretske's epistemology. However, it is not obvious how Dretske's early account meshes with the information-theoretic view developed in Knowledge and the Flow of Information. One aim of this paper is to elucidate the connections between these accounts. First I argue that, contrary to an objection raised by Christoph Jager, the information-theoretic account is compatible with Dretske's anti-skeptical strategy based on the rejection of closure. This strategy invokes the notion of channel conditions, which are roughly speaking those conditions that are necessary and jointly sufficient for a signal to carry information. I propose an interpretation of the account that is based on the idea that a signal's carrying information requires that the channel conditions are stable. It is shown that the resulting account incorporates both a sensitivity condition and a safety condition for knowledge. Finally, I demonstrate how this proposal allows for knowledge of modally robust propositions without making its acquisition too easy, as simple safety accounts do. I end with a suggestion concerning the direction that future research should take, based on the fact that in its present form the information-theoretic account does not capture inferential knowledge.

Item Type: Journal Article
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Kipper, JensUNSPECIFIEDorcid.org/0000-0002-8138-0855UNSPECIFIED
URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-260872
DOI: 10.1007/s10670-015-9787-1
Journal or Publication Title: Erkenntnis
Volume: 81
Number: 5
Page Range: S. 1109 - 1127
Date: 2016
Publisher: SPRINGER
Place of Publication: DORDRECHT
ISSN: 1572-8420
Language: English
Faculty: Unspecified
Divisions: Unspecified
Subjects: no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:
KeywordsLanguage
COUNTERFACTUAL THEORY; KNOWLEDGE; DRETSKE; SENSITIVITY; OBJECTION; LUCKMultiple languages
PhilosophyMultiple languages
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/26087

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