Any theory which says that to know a truth one must believe it and one’s belief must stand in a certain causal relation to the truth itself.
For example, I know that Caesar crossed the Rubicon if his doing so caused some historian to write a book saying so, which caused my local library to buy it, which caused me to read and believe it.
The causal connection might be more complex than a simple chain, and the knower might have to make some inferences.
Objections include the case of timeless truths like those of mathematics, which do not seem to cause anything; and the possibility that the causal chain might be of the wrong sort, so that intuitively one would not say that here was a case of knowledge. (This entry ignores the distinction between facts and events).
Source:
A I Goldman, ‘A Causal Theory of Knowing’, Journal of Philosophy (1967)
Table of Contents
- 1 Videos
- 2 Related Products
- 2.1 Foundations Causal Decision Theory (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)
- 2.2 Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits (Routledge Classics)
- 2.3 Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation (Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Science)
- 2.4 The Foundations of Causal Decision Theory (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)
- 2.5 What Tends to Be: The Philosophy of Dispositional Modality
- 2.6 What is Scientific Knowledge?
- 2.7 Causal Theories of Mind (Grundlagen Der Kommunikation Und Kognition / Foundations of)
- 2.8 Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market: The Scholar's Edition (LvMI)
- 2.9 The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Medicine (Routledge Philosophy Companions)
- 2.10 Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion
- causal theory of memory
- causal theories of perception
- tacit knowledge
- regularity theory of causation
- causal theory of names
Videos
Foundations Causal Decision Theory (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)
- Joyce, James M. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 284 Pages - 05/29/2008 (Publication Date) - Cambridge University Press (Publisher)
Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits (Routledge Classics)
- Routledge
- Russell, Bertrand (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 480 Pages - 04/06/2009 (Publication Date) - Routledge (Publisher)
Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation (Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Science)
- Hardcover Book
- Woodward, James (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 424 Pages - 12/04/2003 (Publication Date) - Oxford University Press (Publisher)
The Foundations of Causal Decision Theory (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Joyce, James M. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 284 Pages - 04/13/1999 (Publication Date) - Cambridge University Press (Publisher)
What Tends to Be: The Philosophy of Dispositional Modality
- Hardcover Book
- Lill Anjum, Rani (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 206 Pages - 05/02/2018 (Publication Date) - Routledge (Publisher)
What is Scientific Knowledge?
- English (Publication Language)
- 328 Pages - 06/24/2019 (Publication Date) - Routledge (Publisher)
Causal Theories of Mind (Grundlagen Der Kommunikation Und Kognition / Foundations of)
- Hardcover Book
- Davis, Steven (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 421 Pages - 10/01/1983 (Publication Date) - De Gruyter (Publisher)
Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market: The Scholar's Edition (LvMI)
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Rothbard, Murray N. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 1506 Pages - 03/30/2009 (Publication Date) - Ludwig von Mises Institute (Publisher)
The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Medicine (Routledge Philosophy Companions)
- English (Publication Language)
- 578 Pages - 02/25/2020 (Publication Date) - Routledge (Publisher)
Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion
- Princeton University Press
- Angrist, Joshua D. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 392 Pages - 01/04/2009 (Publication Date) - Princeton University Press (Publisher)
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