Epistemology and Metaphysics
Epistemology and Metaphysics examines knowledge, justification, truth, reality, causality and the self. The exam rewards precise distinctions and counterexamples.
Core concepts
- Knowledge as justified true belief (JTB): truth, belief, justification. Gettier cases challenge sufficiency.
- Justification: foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism; internalism vs externalism.
- Pramanas in Indian epistemology: pratyaksha, anumana, shabda; savikalpaka/nirvikalpaka perception.
- Truth: correspondence, coherence, pragmatist, deflationary.
- Metaphysics: realism/idealism; substance; universals; causation (regularity, counterfactual, agency); determinism/free will; personal identity (body, memory, self as atman).
Worked example
Ravi believes ‘the winner is from Jaipur’ because a reliable poll says so. Unknown to him, the poll is fabricated, but the winner is from Jaipur for an unrelated reason. Ravi has true belief and some justification, yet intuitively not knowledge: justification is not appropriately connected to truth. This is a Gettier-style counterexample to JTB.
Traps
Do not define knowledge as belief plus confidence. Do not confuse coherence with correspondence. Do not treat Humean causation as a necessary connection we observe; it is a habit of expectation. Do not conflate the empirical self with the metaphysical self.