Chapter 10. Truth, Knowledge, and Reasonable Belief
Practice Exercises: Chapter 10
Group 1: Necessary vs. Contingent Truths
Identify whether the following statements represent a Necessary Truth or a Contingent Truth.
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“A circle has no corners.”
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“The first person walked on the moon in 1969.”
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“If $P$ is true, then it is false that $P$ is not true.”
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“Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level.”
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“All triangles have interior angles that sum to 180 degrees.”
Group 2: Theories of Truth
Identify which theory of truth (Correspondence, Coherence, or Pragmatism) is being used to justify the claim in each scenario.
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“I believe my car is in the garage because I can see it sitting there right now.”
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“I believe in the laws of physics because they allow us to build bridges that don’t collapse and planes that actually fly.”
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“I reject the claim that my neighbor is a space alien because it contradicts everything I know about biology, immigration records, and the lack of warp-drive technology.”
Group 3: Epistemology — How We Know
Identify the epistemological school of thought (Rationalism, Empiricism, or Kantian Synthesis) described in each statement.
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“The mind is a blank slate at birth; we can only know what we have first perceived through our senses.”
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“Human beings are born with certain innate categories, like space and time, which we use to organize the raw data of our experiences.”
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“Senses are deceptive and unreliable; the only way to reach absolute certainty is through the application of pure logic and mathematical reason.”
Group 4: Standpoint Theory & Situated Knowledge
Answer the following questions based on the concepts of Standpoint Theory.
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According to Standpoint Theory, why might a person from a marginalized group have a more complete “standpoint” on a social power structure than a person from the dominant group?
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True or False: Standpoint Theory claims that all knowledge is “situated,” meaning it is influenced by the knower’s social and historical context.
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How does the concept of “Epistemic Privilege” relate to the idea of a Reasonable Person?
Group 5: Knowledge, JTB, and Defeaters
Identify the specific concept at play: Gettier Problem, Rebutting Defeater, or Undermining Defeater.
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You believe your brother is home because his coat is on the rack. You then find out he lent that coat to a friend this morning. (What kind of defeater is the discovery about the coat?)
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A man looks at a digital clock that says 10:30 AM. He believes it is 10:30 AM, and it actually is. However, the clock’s battery died at exactly 10:30 PM the previous night. (What philosophical problem does this illustrate?)
Answer Key
Group 1: Necessary vs. Contingent
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Necessary.
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Contingent.
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Necessary.
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Contingent.
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Necessary.
Group 2: Theories of Truth
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Correspondence.
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Pragmatism.
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Coherence.
Group 3: Epistemology
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Empiricism.
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Kantian Synthesis.
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Rationalism.
Group 4: Standpoint Theory
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Because marginalized groups often possess a “double vision”—they must understand the dominant culture’s perspective to navigate it while also understanding their own lived reality.
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True.
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It suggests a Reasonable Person should practice epistemic humility by acknowledging that their own social location may have “blind spots” and that listening to different standpoints can provide a more objective view of reality.
Group 5: Knowledge and Defeaters
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Undermining Defeater. (The brother might still be home, but your reason for believing it is gone).
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Gettier Problem. (A justified true belief that fails to be knowledge because it was correct only by luck).
