What Is The Gettier Problem?

What Is The Gettier Problem?The Tripartite Theory of Knowledge, a theory which goes back as far as Plato, states that in order for unity to possess knowledge, one moldiness concur reassert amendful(a) picture. In other words, if you carry a picture, that belief must be true and you must be able to justify it. The Tripartite Theory exists to provide a response to the question of what exactly knowledge is. Whilst the theory might have been astray accepted in the past, it was in 1963 that an epistemological debate on the upshot ensued. Edmund Gettiers three-page paper Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? shows two conditions where the criteria for justified true belief appear to be met provided mostly due to luck rather than knowledge. Whilst these counter-examples have led to a number of attempted solutions, my opinion is that the Gettier rip of work can non be mulish. Alvin Goldman attempted to solve the Gettier job with a theory of causative fraternity which states tha t justified true belief must be achieved through a causal connection to the truth. In this essay, I give highlight the ways in which Goldmans proposed solution f all tolds short and so fails to solve the Gettier problem and and then demonstrate one way in which the Gettier problem cannot be resolved.The Gettier problem fundamentally demonstrates the problem of luck in the Tripartite Theory and gum olibanum shows how justified true belief doesnt necessarily mean knowledge. I will present this through the following Gettier-style example Susie walks past the same clock everyday on her way to class at 2pm. Today, as she walks past, the clock indeed says 2pm and she has no reason to believe otherwise since the clock is well maintained and has always been right in the past. Susie has justified true belief. However, unbeknownst to Susie, the clock halt 12 hours earlier at 2am. So whilst Susie believes the clock reads 2pm, it actually reads 2am. Thus, the fact that the clock stopped at the time it did is purely down to luck. So Susies belief fails to be knowledge. If knowledge were to be gained via a causal connection, the problem of luck would essentially not exist as the agent would have acquired knowledge through a reliable, cognitive process. The purpose of the causal theory is to reinforce the Tripartite Theory solely with the increase of a clause that states that a causal chain between beliefs and truths is required for knowledge. Goldman argues that light is one much(prenominal) mechanism that can allow a causal connection and thus justify ones true beliefs. He states in his 1967 paper A Causal Theory of Knowing Perhaps the simplest case of a causal chain connecting some fact p with someones belief of p is that of perception (Goldman 358). Goldman uses the example of the vase to reinforce his argument about perception which is put frontwards as follows S sees a vase but that vase is actually be hidden by a laser photograph of a vase. Because of the pho tograph, S believes that there is a vase in front of him. Goldman argues that in actual fact, S does not really see the vase because of the lack of causal connection that exists between Ss belief and the real vase. So ultimately, what Goldman is saying is that knowledge acquired by sight requires some sort of causal connection for it to truly be knowledge. And so the Gettier problem is essentially resolved, according to Goldman, with the addition of the causal connection clause.Goldman continues his paper by discussing knowledge based on memory. Memory can be considered a causal process because a online belief could be ca apply and therefore traced back to an earlier cause. Knowing a fact at one time and then knowing it again at another is not necessarily knowledge based on memory as a causal connection would have to be included as an essential component in memory. Like perception, the causal connection of memory is used by Goldman to solve the Gettier problem through the addition of an extra gene in the Tripartite Theory. Goldman goes on further to discuss knowledge based on inference through the lava case. S finds lava on the countryside and infers that there was an eruption. plainly in actual fact, someone has placed lava there in order to make it look like there had been a real eruption, unaware of the actual volcano. Goldman states that S doesnt really know that there was an eruption because it is not causally connected to any beliefs about there being an eruption. So, inferential knowledge requires a connection through some sort of causal chain or as Goldman puts it when someone bases his belief of one proposition on his belief of a preparation of other propositions, then his belief of the latter propositions can be considered a cause of his belief of the former proposition. (Goldman 362).Whilst Goldmans A Causal Theory of Knowing is a stimulating essay on the subject of knowledge, his argument or rather so-called solution to the Gettier problem in m y opinion is ultimately flawed. One much(prenominal) criticism lies in the argument that our senses could so easily deceive us and therefore can a causal connection based on perception really be used to prove the acquirement of knowledge? The answer is surely no and this can be seen in the barn faade example, in which an agent drives through a town filled with fake barns. Standing in front of one of these fake barns, the agent can say that he has justified true belief through perception. Even though there is a causal connection in this example, the agent does not really have knowledge. So false conclusions can be drawn from a process which, according to Goldman would ordinarily produce true beliefs highlighting the fact that Goldmans theory is flawed. So this does not provide a solution to the Gettier problem.Another problem with Goldmans theory lies in the fact that not everything in the world can have a causal connection. In particular, knowledge that is a priori such as 2 + 2 = 4 seems to be a fact about numbers but it doesnt have a causal effect. It is a truth that you know based on no causal connection just like many serial pot signboardlication of numbers are. So it is possible to say that the problem with Goldmans theory here is that it focuses on a posteriori knowledge but seems to ignore a priori knowledge and thus is too restrictive. It can therefore not be a solution to the Gettier problem because it doesnt take all types of knowledge into account, which is vital in epistemology. So again, the Gettier problem remains unresolved.The problem of incorrect reconstruction is one that further weakens Goldmans theory. There are times when one may have a true belief but the causal chain which allowed them to have that knowledge is incorrect. For example, an agent discovers his best friends remains and believes that he is dead due to the fact that he is missing body parts. The agent assumes that the friend died by decapitation but actually, he was poisone d and decapitated following his death. This doesnt count as knowledge due to the false nature of the causal chain. Kenneth Collier in his 1973 essay Contra the Causal Theory of Knowing finds a counter-example to Goldmans theory which indicates no causal chain. Collier uses the example of an agent on a hallucinogenic drug which highlights the fact that any beliefs the subject has which turn out to be true, cannot be explained causally due to the hallucinogenic state that they are in. In the paper, Collier has given Smith the hallucinogenic drug and he hallucinates that his wife is having an affair. In actual fact, his wife is having an affair but can this count as knowledge? Surely this is just an example of incorrect reconstruction due to the hallucinations or an example of no causal chain at all. Collier argues that the hassle here seems to be that it is possible for Smiths belief that p to be caused by the fact that p in ways that are irrelevant to his knowledge. But this pith t hat the causal connection cannot be a sufficient condition for knowledge. (Collier 351)Ultimately, Goldmans causal theory attempts to resolve the Gettier problem by adding an extra clause which states that true belief has to be a result of a causal chain. He uses examples of perception, memory and inference to highlight the ways in which causality can solve the Gettier problem. But his theory is flawed overall due to the unreliability of the senses, a lack of a focus on a priori knowledge and the problem of incorrect reconstruction. I chose to focus on Goldmans theory but it is just one example out of a large number of attempts to resolve the Gettier problem. Other proposed solutions include eliminating conditions such as luck, defeat and false evidence as put forth by philosophers like Unger, Lehrer and Lycan. These proposed solutions, like the causal connection theory are all flawed and thus do not provide an adequate response to the Gettier problem. Therefore, I do not believe th at the Gettier problem can be resolved due to my agreement that justified true belief does not necessarily imply knowledge.The beer industry Literature and definitionsThe beer industry Literature and definitionsBackground and objective of the topicThe beer industry has been around for many centuries and has always impacted national economies. Countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), have had a capricious birth with the beer industry over the last few centuries. Indeed, these countries see the benefit for the economy, from tax revenue increases to job creation, but other regulatory and social costs gainsay firms inside the industry. Furthermore within each brewery, their marketing, advertising and crossing strategies are the star(p) differences amongst the competitors. In oversaturated, competitive markets of the UK and the US, various breweries are able to maintain favorableness even as beer consumption and national incomes are in the decline. Inde ed, with social- frugal trends stacked against the industry, companies are still profitable, but those profits are fading. Through these declines, firms make floor business choices of mergers or acquisitions in order to dominate the brewery industry.The brewery industry with a $40 (24.4) billion market value is an important part of the UK economy, and with a $79 billion market value is an important part of the US economy. In the UK, the brewery industry provides 600,000 direct jobs and 500,000 indirect jobs which generates $45 (28) billion in economic exertion and $133 (81.3) million in tax revenue for 2008. In the US, the industry provides 1.9 million jobs in which $62 billion was generated in wages and benefits and $41 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes for 2008. In the UK, the leading brewery market share is Scottish Newcastle at 27.1%, Molson Brewing Company at 19.7% and Anheuser-Busch InBev at 17.7%. While in the leading brewery market share in the US is Anh euser-Busch InBev at 50.8%, followed by SABMiller at 18.4% and Molson Coors Brewing Company at 10.6%.Marketing, advertisement and provokering strategies are key elements within the beer industry. The beer industry includes the brewers and breweries, distributors, and suppliers and retailers. As markets become more crowded, competitive and complicated, the value of a clear brand increases. A brand can identify one point or a family of items and is defined as a name, term, design, symbol that identifies one sellers good or services as distinct from other sellers. An advertised brand is a brand that is owned by an organization and is a consumer product. Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers that benefit the organization. advertisement is the placement of messages in time or space in any of the mass media to persuade members of a particular targeted audience. (American Marketing Association, 2009) A powerful brand gives a company a personality of its own which transcends its components. These components can be seen in both the American brewing industry and the British brewing industry. A brand emphasizes emotion and awareness, but it also connects with consumers to create a strong loyalty base. Fads come and go, but name brands last generations. The brewery industry is very complex in both horizontal and vertical business activities.There are emerging literatures that unique(predicate)ally relate to the brewery industry where various theories involve the marketing, price and disputation aspect of the industry overall. Marketing beer involves the four Ps which is the product, in this case the brand name. The price, which includes the total cost to manufacture, distribute and advertise the beer. The place is the distribution of the beer from the storage warehouse to the consumer with varies steps in between. And finally, the promotion of the beer is through various character istics of a marketing plan where advertising is included.Research QuestionsThe main subject studied in this donnish style dissertation is the effects of branding and marketing within the American and British brewery industry as well as the power to achieve profitability. The specific research questions are designedTo understand and compare the brand drivers of the beer industry in the US and the UKTo evaluate the distribution channelsTo better understand the governments voiceTo find out how the leading firms within the UK and US industry are profitable within a competitive market dealing with the current economic downturnResearch Question 1 How does the US and UK brewing industry implement their branding identity?Research Question 2 How will social-economic trends hazard the profitability of the US and UK brewing industry?These questions will provide an understanding of firm characteristics within the industry and their business practices as well as the sex act success of the le ading firms.Terms used within the industry are defined as follows from the Dictionary of Beer (2001)Ale a type of beer fermented with top-fermenting ale barmBar a public room within a pubBarrelage agreement a common method for a brewery to tie up a abandon pub in return for a cheap loanBeer the generic term for a non-distilled alcoholic drink produced by fermentation of a wort derived from mashed malted barleycorn grainBeer orders UK government regulations concerning licensing laws and consumer choice in pubsBitter beer highly hopped ales with an aftertaste associated with hops, malt and yeastBottom fermentation fermentation at 10C where yeast cells sink to the bottom of the vesselBrew pub a pub which brews beer on the premises and serves foodBrewery a place where beer or ale is brewedBrew house the area of a brewery where the beer is mashed and brewedBrewing process the process of making wort, boiling it with hops and fermenting it into beerCask the general name for any of the barrel-shaped containers of various sizes used for traditional draught beerDraught a general term for any drink that is dispensed from a bulk container into smaller measures for saleFermentation biochemical reaction when sugar is converted to ethyl alcohol by yeast and some bacteriaFree house a pub supposedly free of any brewery tie and able to offer a range of beers from different breweriesGuest beer a beer, not regularly sold in a pub, being on offer for a limited periodLager beer fermented with bottom fermentation yeast where primary fermentation is at a lower temperature than for ale and lower-ranking fermentation happens in closed conditioning tanks around 0C.Light beer any American low-calories beer which does not contain dextrin and alcohol content ranges between 2.8 to 4%Microbrewery small-scale brewery operation where equipment has been specially developed for brew pubs and small independent breweries and produces a limited amount of beerMacrobrewery a large brewery produc es larger amounts of beer at a cheaper priceOff-trade (or off-license) where places like a supermarket or convenience store are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption off of the premisesOn-trade (or on-license) an establishment where alcohol must be consumed at the point of sale such as the pub or barPremium lager a lager brewed to a higher place 5% alcohol bearingPorter a dark, slightly sweetish but hoppy ale made with roasted barleyPub a house dissonant to the public at stated times for the purpose of social drinkingStandard lager a lager brewed under 5% alcohol strengthStout a very dark, heavy, well-hopped bitter ale with a dry palate, thick creamy head, and good grainy taste from a dark roasted barleyThree tier distribution (NBWA) the US distribution system for the beer industry where brewers make the beer, wholesalers distribute it to supermarkets and bars, and retailers sell it, but no one within the line is allowed to do one of the other two at the same timeT ied house a pub which is obliged to sell only the products of a particular breweryTop-fermentation fermentation where the yeast rises to the top of the vessel in a thick foamy headWort the sweet liquid, containing all the extracts from the malted grain, which subsequently will be fermented into beerFrameworkThe framework for the dissertation is as follows with this chapter presenting the overview for the present study. In the next chapter the methodology is described in greater detail. In Chapter Three, a suss out of the literature relating to industry concentration, advertising, competition and demand is presented. Chapter Four will consist of empirical materials of primary and secondary data on the leading macrobreweries within the US and the UK as well as results of semi-structured interviews comprised of people working within the industry. Chapter Five conveys the analysis and findings developed throughout the research. The final chapter presents the conclusions and recommendat ions for further areas of research.