Better virtuous than safe

Zhao, Haicheng

doi:10.1007/s11229-019-02501-5

Synthese

2019

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-019-02501-5

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Better virtuous than safe

Haicheng Zhao

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Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…For discussions of the individuation of belief-formation methods, seeAlfano (2009),Becker (2008Becker ( , 2009Becker ( , 2012b,Bernecker (2018),Black & Murphy (2007),Bogardus & Marxen (2014),Broncano-Berrocal (2014),Hirvelä (2019),Zhao (2021a), andZhao (2020).…”

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Sensitivity, Safety, and Epistemic Closure

2022

International Journal of Philosophical Studies

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It has been argued that an advantage of the safety account over the sensitivity account is that the safety account preserves epistemic closure; while the sensitivity account implies epistemic closure failure. However, the argument fails to take the method-relativity of the modal conditions on knowledge, viz, sensitivity and safety, into account. In this paper, I argue that the sensitivity account and the safety account are on a par with respect to epistemic closure once the method-relativity of the modal conditions is taken into account. Therefore, epistemic closure is no longer an arbiter in the debate. KeywordsBelief-formation methods • Competent deduction • Epistemic closure • Inferential beliefs • Knowledge • Safety • Sensitivity • The generality problem sensitivity account of knowledge 1 and the safety account of knowledge 2 .Though both accounts handle a wide range of cases involving knowledge-precluding epistemic luck as well as cases of knowledge, 3 it has been argued that an advantage of the safety account over the sensitivity account is that the safety account preserves epistemic closure; while the sensitivity account implies epistemic closure failure. In this paper, I demonstrate that such an argument fails to take into account that the modal conditions are usually relativized to belief-formation methods. Once we take the method-relativity of the modal conditions into account, it should be clear to us that the sensitivity account and the safety account are on a par with respect to epistemic closure, viz., either both accounts preserve epistemic closure or both accounts imply epistemic closure failure. Therefore, epistemic closure cannot be used to adjudicate between the sensitivity and the safety accounts of knowledge. 4

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Sensitivity, Safety, and Epistemic Closure

2022

International Journal of Philosophical Studies

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“…For discussions of the individuation of the basis of beliefs, seeAlfano (2009), Becker (2012), Bernecker (2020),Black and Murphy (2007),Bogardus and Marxen (2014), Broncano-Berrocal (2014), and Hirvelä (2019.7 For a similar scenario, seeZhao (2019).…”

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A Dilemma for Globalized Safety

2021

Acta Anal

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The safety condition is supposed to be a necessary condition on knowledge which helps to eliminate epistemic luck. It has been argued that the condition should be globalized to a set of propositions rather than the target proposition believed to account for why not all beliefs in necessary truths are safe. A remaining issue is which propositions are relevant when evaluating whether the target belief is safe or not. In the literature, solutions have been proposed to determine the relevance of propositions. This paper examines a case of luckily true belief—thus a case of ignorance—and a case of knowledge. It argues that no solution in the literature offers a correct verdict in either case. Therefore, the strategy to globalize safety remains unsatisfactory.

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“… 2 Recent critics of Safety include Baumann (2008), Kelp (2009), Bogardus (2014), Zhao (Forthcoming), among others. Defenders of safety include Sosa (1999), Williamson (2000), and Pritchard (2007, 2008, 2012).…”

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How to Play the Lottery Safely?

Zhao

2020

Episteme

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According to the safety principle, if one knows that p, one's belief that p could not easily have been false. One problem besetting this principle is the lottery problem – that of explaining why one does not seem to know that one will lose the lottery purely based on probabilistic considerations, prior to the announcement of the lottery result. As Greco points out, it is difficult for a safety theorist to solve this problem, without paying a heavy price. In this paper, I first reject three existing safety-based solutions to the lottery problem, due to Pritchard, Sosa, and Broncano-Berrocal. Failure of these accounts reveals that there is something crucial missing in the safety principle. By way of remedying this, I propose to integrate a safety principle with a condition regarding one's own awareness of (nearby) error-possibilities. The resulting account, as I argue, enjoys a number of theoretical advantages, including its capacity to handle the lottery problem.

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Better virtuous than safe

Cited by 8 publications

References 51 publications

Sensitivity, Safety, and Epistemic Closure

Sensitivity, Safety, and Epistemic Closure

A Dilemma for Globalized Safety

How to Play the Lottery Safely?

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