Philosophy Research Archives

Volume 5, 1979

Knowledge as Justified Belief in a True, Justified Proposition

When analyzing 'justified factual knowledge that h', we must speak of justified belief in h and also of h ' s being a justified proposition. Gettier-type problems can be dealt with by requiring that the belief in h be justified through its connection with a 'justification-explaining chain' related to h. The social aspects of knowledge can be encompassed by analyzing what it is for h to be a justified proposition in terms of h's relation to the rationality of an 'epistemic community'. The discussion explains these analyses, and shows how to concept of a justification-explaining chain is related to Ernest Sosa's concept of a 'tree of knowledge'. The present account of justification is seen to be preferable. A rationale for appealing to justification-explaining chains emerges from Popper's concern with another type of knowledge, namely, sets of propositions embedded in systems used by epistemic communities in pursuit of epistemic goals. In conclusion, the present approach is related to a number of examples found in the literature concerning the social aspects of knowledge.