“In my view there is a level of human knowledge that involves just getting it right aptly. This "animal" epistemic level is an inferior level in just the way of Diana's long shot in the dark while drunk. That shot is inferior in a certain respect if too poorly selected as a hunter's archery shot, even if not quite as poorly selected as would be a shot aimed at the moon. Even if Diana's too risky shot turns out to be apt by attaining success through sublime archery dexterity, it is still inferior in the particular respect of being so risky and hence so poorly selected.” IfsWayHumansLongStillsWould BeCertainTurnsDarkAnimalLevelsViewsParticularMoonShotsDrunkInferiorsSublimeHuntersSelectedDianaHuman KnowledgeArcheryDexterityLong Shots Author:Ernest Sosa
“Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it is better to succeed through competence - aptly - than through sheer luck.” IfsSucceedLuckSheerCompetenceCompetentIncompetent Author:Ernest Sosa
“If a shot aimed at aptness succeeds aptly, it is then fully apt, since it is not only apt but also aptly apt. But the full aptness of such an attempt is entirely compatible with its being a horrible murder, if the "hunter" is an assassin and the prey his victim. That hunter's shot may still be outstandingly, fully apt, if it manifests the agent's competence in both archery dexterity and shot selection.” IfsMayStillsSucceedShotsMurderVictimHorribleAgentsHuntersSelectionPreyCompetenceAssassinsCompatibleArcheryDexterity Author:Ernest Sosa
“Given its more substantial aim, a judgment is apt only if its constitutive alethic affirmation is not only apt but aptly apt. The subject must attain aptly not only the truth of his affirmation but also its aptness. And that in turn requires not only the proper operation of one's perception, memory, inference, etc., but also that one deploy such competences through competent epistemic risk assessment.” IfsTurnsGivenMemoriesRiskSubjectsJudgmentPerceptionAimOperationsEtcAffirmationCompetenceCompetentAssessmentInference Author:Ernest Sosa
“One does not avoid incompetence if one makes an attempt whose likelihood of success is too low. This seems little more than analytic: when the performance is in a domain that imposes standards of risk, attempts may or may not meet such standards. And the relevant competence of agents then includes reliably enough meeting those standards.” IfsMayLittlesDoeEnoughSeemsRiskLowsStandardsPerformancesMeetingsAgentsRelevantDomainCompetenceIncompetenceLikelihoodAnalytics Author:Ernest Sosa
“It is also certain that when we assent to some piece of reasoning when our perception of it is lacking, then either we go wrong, or, if we do stumble on the truth, it is by accident, so that we cannot be sure that we are not in error.” IfsCertainPiecesPerceptionErrorsAccidentsReasoningLacking Author:Ernest Sosa
“If the agent aims to make the attempt if and only if it would be apt, then a distinctive element of risk assessment becomes relevant: How probably would the agent succeed in attempting that fuller end?” IfsEndsWould BeRiskSucceedElementsAimAgentsRelevantAttemptingAssessmentDistinctiveIfs And Author:Ernest Sosa
“Arguably, if you view a real barn in bright sunlight and close by, while fully alert and otherwise in good shape, then you do know whether or not you see a barn. You have "animal" knowledge, says my virtue theory, through the first-order aptness of your judgment.” IfsKnowsFirstsRealOrderAnimalViewsVirtueTheoryShapesJudgmentSunlightBarns Author:Ernest Sosa
“Suppose we wonder whether we should trust the deliverances of our basic epistemic competences. If those are indeed our basic competences, then in order properly to satisfy our curiosity we will inevitably rely on one or more of them. So, either we squelch our curiosity or we will have to fall into the circularity or regress to which the skeptic objects.” IfsShouldOrderFallWonderObjectsCuriosityRelyCompetenceSkepticDeliveranceCircularity Author:Ernest Sosa
“If we have a better understanding of knowledge than we do of such justification or competence, then we can explain the latter through the former.” IfsUnderstandingFormerLatterJustificationCompetence Author:Ernest Sosa
“We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we pursue the project with reliance on science broadly and on our full span of epistemic competences, including the empirical as well as the a priori.” IfsWellsPerspectiveProjectsIncludingTheologyPursueFacultyRelianceCompetence Author:Ernest Sosa
