What Is The Gettier Problem?

What Is The Gettier Problem? The Tripartite Theory of Knowledge, a theory which goes back as far as Plato, states that in order for one to possess knowledge, one must have justified true belief. In other words, if you carry a belief, that belief must be true and you must be able to justify it. The Tripartite Theory exists to provide a response to the question of what exactly knowledge is. Whilst the theory might have been widely accepted in the past, it was in 1963 that an epistemological debate on the topic ensued. Edmund Gettiers three-page paper Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? shows two conditions where the criteria for justified true belief appear to be met but mostly due to luck rather than knowledge. Whilst these counter-examples have led to a number of attempted solutions, my opinion is that the Gettier problem cannot be resolved. Alvin Goldman attempted to solve the Gettier problem with a theory of causal connection which states that justified true belief must be achieved through a causal connection to the truth. In this essay, I will highlight the ways in which Goldmans proposed solution falls short and so fails to solve the Gettier problem and thus demonstrate one way in which the Gettier problem cannot be resolved. The Gettier problem fundamentally demonstrates the problem of luck in the Tripartite Theory and thus shows how justified true belief doesnt necessarily mean knowledge. I will present this through the following Gettier-style example: Susie walks past the same clock everyday on her way to class at 2pm. Today, as she walks past, the clock indeed says 2pm and she has no reason to believe otherwise since the clock is well maintained and has always been right in the past. Susie has justified true belief. However, unbeknownst to Susie, the clock stopped 12 hours earlier at 2am. So whilst Susie believes the clock reads 2pm, it actually reads 2am. Thus, the fact that the clock stopped at the time it did is purely down to luck. So Susies belief fails to be knowledge. If knowledge were to be gained via a causal connection, the problem of luck would essentially not exist as the agent would have acquired knowledge through a reliable, cognitive process. The purpose of the causal theory is to reinf orce the Tripartite Theory but with the addition of a clause that states that a causal chain between beliefs and truths is required for knowledge. Goldman argues that perception is one such mechanism that can allow a causal connection and thus justify ones true beliefs. He states in his 1967 paper A Causal Theory of Knowing; Perhaps the simplest case of a causal chain connecting some fact p with someones belief of p is that of perception (Goldman 358). Goldman uses the example of the vase to reinforce his argument about perception which is put forth as follows: S sees a vase but that vase is actually being hidden by a laser photograph of a vase. Because of the photograph, S believes that there is a vase in front of him. Goldman argues that in actual fact, S does not really see the vase because of the lack of causal connection that exists between Ss belief and the real vase. So ultimately, what Goldman is saying is that knowledge acquired by sight requires some sort of causal connect ion for it to truly be knowledge. And so the Gettier problem is essentially resolved, according to Goldman, with the addition of the causal connection clause. Goldman continues his paper by discussing knowledge based on memory. Memory can be considered a causal process because a current belief could be caused and therefore traced back to an earlier cause. Knowing a fact at one time and then knowing it again at another is not necessarily knowledge based on memory as a causal connection would have to be included as an essential component in memory. Like perception, the causal connection of memory is used by Goldman to solve the Gettier problem through the addition of an extra element in the Tripartite Theory. Goldman goes on further to discuss knowledge based on inference through the lava case. S finds lava on the countryside and infers that there was an eruption. But in actual fact, someone has placed lava there in order to make it look like there had been a real eruption, unaware of the actual volcano. Goldman states that S doesnt really know that there was an eruption because it is not causally connected to any beliefs about there being a n eruption. So, inferential knowledge requires a connection through some sort of causal chain or as Goldman puts it: when someone bases his belief of one proposition on his belief of a set of other propositions, then his belief of the latter propositions can be considered a cause of his belief of the former proposition. (Goldman 362). Whilst Goldmans A Causal Theory of Knowing is a stimulating essay on the subject of knowledge, his argument or rather so-called solution to the Gettier problem in my opinion is ultimately flawed. One such criticism lies in the argument that our senses could so easily deceive us and therefore can a causal connection based on perception really be used to prove the acquirement of knowledge? The answer is surely no and this can be seen in the barn faà §ade example, in which an agent drives through a town filled with fake barns. Standing in front of one of these fake barns, the agent can say that he has justified true belief through perception. Even though there is a causal connection in this example, the agent does not really have knowledge. So false conclusions can be drawn from a process which, according to Goldman would ordinarily produce true beliefs highlighting the fact that Goldmans theory is flawed. So this does not provide a solution to the Gettier problem. Another problem with Goldmans theory lies in the fact that not everything in the world can have a causal connection. In particular, knowledge that is a priori such as 2 + 2 = 4 seems to be a fact about numbers but it doesnt have a causal effect. It is a truth that you know based on no causal connection just like many series of numbers are. So it is possible to say that the problem with Goldmans theory here is that it focuses on a posteriori knowledge but seems to ignore a priori knowledge and thus is too restrictive. It can therefore not be a solution to the Gettier problem because it doesnt take all types of knowledge into account, which is vital in epistemology. So again, the Gettier problem remains unresolved. The problem of incorrect reconstruction is one that further weakens Goldmans theory. There are times when one may have a true belief but the causal chain which allowed them to have that knowledge is incorrect. For example, an agent discovers his best friends body and believes that he is dead due to the fact that he is missing body parts. The agent assumes that the friend died by decapitation but actually, he was poisoned and decapitated following his death. This doesnt count as knowledge due to the false nature of the causal chain. Kenneth Collier in his 1973 essay Contra the Causal Theory of Knowing finds a counter-example to Goldmans theory which indicates no causal chain. Collier uses the example of an agent on a hallucinogenic drug which highlights the fact that any beliefs the subject has which turn out to be true, cannot be explained causally due to the hallucinogenic state that they are in. In the paper, Collier has given Smith the hallucinogenic drug and he hallucinates that his wife is having an affair. In actual fact, his wife is having an affair but can this count as knowledge? Surely this is just an example of incorrect reconstruction due to the hallucinations or an example of no causal chain at all. Collier argues that the difficulty here seems to be that it is possible for Smiths belief that p to be caused by the fact that p in ways that are irrelevant to his knowledge. But this means that the causal connection cannot be a sufficient condition for knowledge. (Collier 351) Ultimately, Goldmans causal theory attempts to resolve the Gettier problem by adding an extra clause which states that true belief has to be a result of a causal chain. He uses examples of perception, memory and inference to highlight the ways in which causality can solve the Gettier problem. But his theory is flawed overall due to the unreliability of the senses, a lack of a focus on a priori knowledge and the problem of incorrect reconstruction. I chose to focus on Goldmans theory but it is just one example out of a large number of attempts to resolve the Gettier problem. Other proposed solutions include eliminating conditions such as luck, defeat and false evidence as put forth by philosophers like Unger, Lehrer and Lycan. These proposed solutions, like the causal connection theory are all flawed and thus do not provide an adequate response to the Gettier problem. Therefore, I do not believe that the Gettier problem can be resolved due to my agreement that justified true belief do es not necessarily imply knowledge. The beer industry: Literature and definitions The beer industry: Literature and definitions Background and objective of the topic The beer industry has been around for many centuries and has always impacted national economies. Countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), have had a capricious relationship with the beer industry over the last few centuries. Indeed, these countries see the benefit for the economy, from tax revenue increases to job creation, but other regulatory and social costs challenge firms within the industry. Furthermore within each brewery, their marketing, advertising and branding strategies are the leading differences amongst the competitors. In oversaturated, competitive markets of the UK and the US, various breweries are able to maintain profitability even as beer consumption and national incomes are in the decline. Indeed, with social-economic trends stacked against the industry, companies are still profitable, but those profits are fading. Through these declines, firms make radical business choices of mergers or acquisitions in order to dominate the brewery i ndustry. The brewery industry with a $40 ( £24.4) billion market value is an important part of the UK economy, and with a $79 billion market value is an important part of the US economy. In the UK, the brewery industry provides 600,000 direct jobs and 500,000 indirect jobs which generates $45 ( £28) billion in economic activity and $133 ( £81.3) million in tax revenue for 2008. In the US, the industry provides 1.9 million jobs in which $62 billion was generated in wages and benefits and $41 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes for 2008. In the UK, the leading brewery market share is Scottish Newcastle at 27.1%, Molson Brewing Company at 19.7% and Anheuser-Busch InBev at 17.7%. While in the leading brewery market share in the US is Anheuser-Busch InBev at 50.8%, followed by SABMiller at 18.4% and Molson Coors Brewing Company at 10.6%. Marketing, advertisement and branding strategies are key elements within the beer industry. The beer industry includes the brewers and breweries, distributors, and suppliers and retailers. As markets become more crowded, competitive and complex, the value of a clear brand increases. A brand can identify one item or a family of items and is defined as a name, term, design, symbol that identifies one sellers good or services as distinct from other sellers. An advertised brand is a brand that is owned by an organization and is a consumer product. Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers that benefit the organization. Advertising is the placement of messages in time or space in any of the mass media to persuade members of a particular targeted audience. (American Marketing Association, 2009) A powerful brand gives a company a personality of its own which transcends its components. These components can be seen in both the American brewing industry and the British brewing industry. A brand emphasizes emotion and awareness, but it also connects with consumers to create a strong loyalty base. Fads come and go, but name brands last generations. The brewery industry is very complex in both horizontal and vertical business activities. There are emerging literatures that specifically relate to the brewery industry where various theories involve the marketing, price and competition aspect of the industry overall. Marketing beer involves the four Ps which is the product, in this case the brand name. The price, which includes the total cost to manufacture, distribute and advertise the beer. The place is the distribution of the beer from the warehouse to the consumer with varies steps in between. And finally, the promotion of the beer is through various characteristics of a marketing plan where advertising is included. Research Questions The main subject studied in this academic style dissertation is the effects of branding and marketing within the American and British brewery industry as well as the power to achieve profitability. The specific research questions are designed: To understand and compare the brand drivers of the beer industry in the US and the UK To evaluate the distribution channels To better understand the governments role To find out how the leading firms within the UK and US industry are profitable within a competitive market dealing with the current economic downturn Research Question 1: How does the US and UK brewing industry implement their branding identity? Research Question 2: How will social-economic trends affect the profitability of the US and UK brewing industry? These questions will provide an understanding of firm characteristics within the industry and their business practices as well as the relative success of the leading firms. Terms used within the industry are defined as follows from the Dictionary of Beer (2001): Ale: a type of beer fermented with top-fermenting ale yeast Bar: a public room within a pub Barrelage agreement: a common method for a brewery to tie up a ‘free pub in return for a ‘cheap loan Beer: the generic term for a non-distilled alcoholic drink produced by fermentation of a wort derived from mashed malted barley grain Beer orders: UK government regulations concerning licensing laws and consumer choice in pubs Bitter beer: highly hopped ales with an aftertaste associated with hops, malt and yeast Bottom fermentation: fermentation at 10 °C where yeast cells sink to the bottom of the vessel Brew pub: a pub which brews beer on the premises and serves food Brewery: a place where beer or ale is brewed Brew house: the area of a brewery where the beer is mashed and brewed Brewing process: the process of making wort, boiling it with hops and fermenting it into beer Cask: the general name for any of the barrel-shaped containers of various sizes used for traditional draught beer Draught: a general term for any drink that is dispensed from a bulk container into smaller measures for sale Fermentation: biochemical reaction when sugar is converted to ethyl alcohol by yeast and some bacteria Free house: a pub supposedly free of any brewery tie and able to offer a range of beers from different breweries Guest beer: a beer, not regularly sold in a pub, being on offer for a limited period Lager: beer fermented with bottom fermentation yeast where primary fermentation is at a lower temperature than for ale and secondary fermentation happens in closed conditioning tanks around 0 °C. Light beer: any American low-calories beer which does not contain dextrin and alcohol content ranges between 2.8 to 4% Microbrewery: small-scale brewery operation where equipment has been specially developed for brew pubs and small independent breweries and produces a limited amount of beer Macrobrewery: a large brewery produces larger amounts of beer at a cheaper price Off-trade (or off-license): where places like a supermarket or convenience store are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption off of the premises On-trade (or on-license): an establishment where alcohol must be consumed at the point of sale such as the pub or bar Premium lager: a lager brewed above 5% alcohol strength Porter: a dark, slightly sweetish but hoppy ale made with roasted barley Pub: a house open to the public at stated times for the purpose of social drinking Standard lager: a lager brewed under 5% alcohol strength Stout: a very dark, heavy, well-hopped bitter ale with a dry palate, thick creamy head, and good grainy taste from a dark roasted barley Three tier distribution (NBWA): the US distribution system for the beer industry where brewers make the beer, wholesalers distribute it to supermarkets and bars, and retailers sell it, but no one within the line is allowed to do one of the other two at the same time Tied house: a pub which is obliged to sell only the products of a particular brewery Top-fermentation: fermentation where the yeast rises to the top of the vessel in a thick foamy head Wort: the sweet liquid, containing all the extracts from the malted grain, which subsequently will be fermented into beer Framework The framework for the dissertation is as follows with this chapter presenting the overview for the present study. In the next chapter the methodology is described in greater detail. In Chapter Three, a review of the literature relating to industry concentration, advertising, competition and demand is presented. Chapter Four will consist of empirical materials of primary and secondary data on the leading macrobreweries within the US and the UK as well as results of semi-structured interviews comprised of people working within the industry. Chapter Five conveys the analysis and findings developed throughout the research. The final chapter presents the conclusions and recommendations for further areas of research.