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Quote by Ernest Sosa

“The success of an archery shot may bring food to the hunter's starving family, or may constitute a horrible murder. But these outcomes are irrelevant to the assessment of that shot as a hunter-archery shot, as an attempt to hit prey without running excessive risk of failure.”

Quote by Ernest Sosa

Author

Ernest Sosa is a renowned philosopher, born on June 17, 1940. His research focuses on metaphysics, epistemology, and moral philosophy. more

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“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.”

Ifs May Stills Succeed Shots Murder Victim Horrible Agents Hunters Selection Prey Competence Assassins Compatible Archery Dexterity

Author:Ernest Sosa

“We must distinguish judging from guessing.”

Judging Guessing

Author:Ernest Sosa

“Judgment is affirmation with the intention to thereby affirm competently enough, and indeed aptly. That distinguishes judgments from mere guesses.”

Enough Judgment Intention Mere Affirmation

Author:Ernest Sosa

“In order to qualify as a judgment, an affirmation must aim at getting it right aptly, through competence, and not just through a lucky guess.”

Order Lucky Judgment Aim Affirmation Competence

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.”

Ifs Turns Given Memories Risk Subjects Judgment Perception Aim Operations Etc Affirmation Competence Competent Assessment Inference

Author:Ernest Sosa

“A hunter archer can also be out to shock by taking crazy shots. What makes his shots "crazy" is set by excessive risk, judged by hunting-archery standards, which would tend to draw agreement from knowledgeable observers.”

Risk Crazy Draws Standards Shots Shock Agreement Judged Hunting Hunters Observers Knowledgeable Archer Archery

Author:Ernest Sosa

“There isn't a formal definition of success.”

Definitions Formal Definition Of Success

Author:Ernest Sosa

“When the risk of failure is too high, the right choice is to forbear.”

Choices Risk Right Choices

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.”

Ifs May Littles Doe Enough Seems Risk Lows Standards Performances Meetings Agents Relevant Domain Competence Incompetence Likelihood Analytics

Author:Ernest Sosa

“Lowered reliability obviously yields a lesser competence. But lowered breadth does so as well.”

Wells Doe Yield Competence Breadth Reliability

Author:Ernest Sosa