The concept of knowledge according to Fred Dretske

• Grant number: 19/21427-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2020
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Antonio Alves
• Grantee: Isabele Vieira Salsmam
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Research into the nature of knowledge has been on the agenda of philosophy throughout its history. In our day Fred Dretske, seeking to avoid problems directed at Plato's classical notion of knowledge, defines it as true belief causally supported by information. In this context, the notion of information and its ontological status assume the essential theoretical role for the definition of knowledge. We propose in this project an investigation regarding the definition of knowledge as suggested by Dretske. This definition presupposes the formal approach to information constructed in the Mathematical Theory of Communication. Therefore, initially, we researched the notion of information in this perspective. We then address Dretske's notion of information and then research its definition of knowledge.