Philosophy instances of knowledge
Read the following scenarios. Write some responses to each of these. Whether you judge the case to be an instance of knowledge or no knowledge, consider what it is about the case that makes you confident in saying so.
Scenario 1: You are playing a trivia game with some friends. A question is asked, “Who was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States?” You consider the question and cannot seem to recall the name of the president. At the last second before the time ends, you guess and write down ‘Grover Cleveland’. The host announces that the correct answer is in fact Grover Cleveland. Would you say that you knew the answer? Why or why not?
Scenario 2: Use the same trivia scenario from above, but this time you consider the question and you remember an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force that asked this very same question. You confidently write down ‘Grover Cleveland’. The host announces that the correct answer is in fact Grover Cleveland. Would you say that you knew the answer? Why or why not?
Scenario 3: You are living in a time and place where the reasonable people of the land assert that the Earth is flat. Do you know that the Earth is flat? Why or why not?
Scenario 4: You are sitting at your computer at this very moment. Could you know that the Earth is flat (or 2+2=7)? Why or why not?