Testimonially based Knowledge from False Testimony

Author: Goldberg S.C.

Source: The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 51, Number 205, October 2001 , pp. 512-526(15)

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Abstract:

I provide an example to illustrate the contention that there are cases in which a recipient can acquire testimonially based knowledge from false testimony. The example involves a case in which the proposition believed by the recipient, though derived in a testimonially based way, is not identical with the proposition attested to. I conclude by suggesting that if we are to make sense of such cases as cases of testimonially based knowledge, we need to make some revisions both in our conception of the ways in which testimonially-grounded warrant can accrue to a belief and in our conception of what ‘testimonial authority’ can apply to.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9213.00244

Affiliations: 1: University of Kentucky. scgold@pop.uky.edu

Publication date: 2001-10-01