Edmond Gettier: the Principle of Deduction for Justification - Assignment Example

In order to prove our position, we will be examining both sides of the story, as well as comparing his opinion with others in order to be able to better understand his position. By using the available research and literature that is available, in this paper will be able to be proved is the matter of how Gettier's opinion does have a reason. This is what will be dissertated in the following. There are actually many different points that can be used in order to prove Gettier's opinion as being intelligent and basically correct, and several of these, in particular, will be used here.

Edmond Gettier is an American philosopher and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and he is most noted for that of his refutation of the principle of a deduction for justification, which was most aptly described in an article which he wrote. In this article, Gettier was incredibly outright in his position, and he challenges the justified true belief definition of knowledge, and this definition of knowledge dates as far back as Plato's Theaetetus. One of the biggest disputes in regards to Gettier's refutation is the fact that it 'had already been done', in particular by the work of Wittgenstein; at first, his account was widely accepted, by most philosophers, in fact, however, it was the actual validity of his article that was put into question.

His criticism of the Justified True Belief model is definitely systematic, and in his article, he provides several incredibly significant and influential examples of beliefs, of which are both true and justified. However, although they are - and for the most part always have been - considered as being true and justified, it has yet been considered that we should not classify this as being actual knowledge. There are certain opinions that have been made in regards to Gettier's work, and this includes the fact that Gettier's use of 'justification' is too broad, for example, and that he should not use it over, as it is considered that only some kinds of justification count; some believe that his examples do not count as justification at all; as well, Robert Nozick, who was an American philosopher and professor, suggested in this regards that knowledge absolutely must consist of only justified true belief that is held in such a way that if, say, it turned out to be false, would not have been held.

In order to prove the fact that Gettier's work and refutation were actually worthwhile and influencing, we must include the opinion of someone whose views went against his, such as Kwame Anthony Appiah. In Appiah's most noted book, Thinking it Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy, he offers an incredibly thorough introduction to contemporary philosophy, and as well he answers some of the most crucial questions in regards to human existence overall.