• Philosophy -> Epistemology and Theory of Knowledge

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What is defeasibility and how does it relate to epistemology and theory of knowledge?

Danyell Blackwood

Defeasibility is a fancy word that has to do with how certain we can be about something we know. Let me explain it in simpler terms.

You know that the sun rises every day, right? Well, that's something you can be pretty sure about because you've seen it happen every morning. But what if someone told you that the sun didn't really rise, but instead the Earth rotated around it and made it look like the sun was rising? Would that make you doubt what you know?

That's where defeasibility comes in. It means that even though we may have knowledge about something, there could always be a possibility that it's not true or that something will come up later to make us doubt it.

In epistemology, which is the study of knowledge, defeasibility is important because it helps us understand how we can be sure of what we know and how to deal with doubts and skepticism.

When we apply defeasibility to theory of knowledge, we're essentially questioning our own knowledge to make it stronger and more accurate. We might ask ourselves questions like, "Do I really know this to be true?" or "What evidence do I have to support my knowledge?"

Overall, defeasibility is a way of being open to the possibility that what we know might not be completely true, and that's okay. By staying open to new information and questioning our own knowledge, we can become more knowledgeable and sure of what we do know.