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1 - Introduction

Testimony and the Transmission of Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2020

John Greco
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
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Summary

Chapter 1 begins by invoking an intuitive distinction between the generation of knowledge and the transmission of knowledge. Very roughly, generation concerns coming to know “for oneself,” as when one reasons to a conclusion on the basis of good evidence. Transmission concerns coming to know “from someone else,” as when one is told by someone else who knows. Section 1.1 argues that some but not all testimony is at the service of knowledge transmission, with the result that some but not all testimonial knowledge is transmitted knowledge. Section 1.2 redraws some familiar categories in the epistemology of testimony so as to better characterize our target and related phenomena, better frame our questions, and better see the possible answers. Finally, a central thesis of the book is introduced and discussed: that knowledge transmission is irreducible to knowledge generation, and for that reason requires its own theoretical treatment. More specifically, it is argued that an adequate account of transmission must go beyond the usual theoretical resources of traditional epistemology – that is, beyond those resources that the tradition uses to theorize knowledge generation.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Introduction
  • John Greco, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: The Transmission of Knowledge
  • Online publication: 21 August 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108560818.002
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  • Introduction
  • John Greco, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: The Transmission of Knowledge
  • Online publication: 21 August 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108560818.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • John Greco, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: The Transmission of Knowledge
  • Online publication: 21 August 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108560818.002
Available formats
×