Levi Spectre (Open University of Israel): Inference and fallible knowledge

Inference and fallible knowledge

The principle of closure in epistemology is the idea, roughly, that whenever one knows that p and one knows that if p, then q, one knows that q. I argue that epistemological fallibilists should reject this intuitive and widely endorsed principle. First, I will present an argument that shows why the issue of fallibilism is critical for the debate concerning closure and relate this argument to issues regarding rational belief, justified belief and rational acceptance. Second, I argue that even very weak closure principles cannot be accepted on a fallibilist understanding of knowledge. Finally I comment on why living without closure is not as bad as it sounds.