Epistemology: Knowledge, Truth, and Justification
The standard analysis
Know the tripartite analysis: knowledge as justified true belief (JTB). Be ready to explain each condition and the Gettier problem, which shows that JTB is not sufficient when justification is accidentally connected to truth. Candidates should be able to discuss possible repairs (no false lemmas, reliabilism, virtue epistemology) without claiming any is universally accepted.
Sources and structure of justification
Distinguish rationalism (reason as primary source) from empiricism (experience); a priori from a posteriori; analytic from synthetic; and necessary from contingent. Know foundationalism (basic beliefs), coherentism (mutual support within a system), and reliabilism (beliefs produced by reliable processes). Understand internalism vs. externalism about justification.
Truth and scepticism
Know the main theories of truth: correspondence, coherence, pragmatic, deflationary. Be able to state Cartesian scepticism (dreaming, evil demon), Humean induction scepticism, and the responses (Descartes' cogito, Kant's transcendental argument, fallibilism).
Traps
(a) Defining knowledge as "true belief" and forgetting justification; (b) treating Gettier cases as showing knowledge is impossible rather than that JTB is insufficient; (c) confusing scepticism (no knowledge) with fallibilism (knowledge compatible with possible error); (d) equating a priori with innate.
Rule of thumb
When evaluating a knowledge claim, check three boxes: truth, belief, adequate justification - then ask whether the justification would still hold if the belief were false.
Worked example: A stopped clock shows 3:00 and you believe it is 3:00 at exactly 3:00. True and believed, but the justification (reading the clock) is unreliable - a Gettier-style case, not knowledge.