4. The Value of Knowledge: The Meno Problem

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we turn from the problem of defining knowledge to the question of the value of knowledge, focusing in particular on the issues raised in Plato’s Meno. Is knowledge more valuable than (unjustified) true beliefs? Why?

Course

In this course, Dr Barney Walker (University of Warwick) considers three aspects of knowledge and belief. In the first three modules, we explore the idea of knowledge as justified true belief, focusing in particular on the concept of analysing knowledge and the objections of Edmund Gettier to the theory of justified true belief. After that, in the fourth module, we think about the value of knowledge, looking in particular at the issues raised in Plato’s Meno. And in the fifth module, we turn to the question whether we can believe something at will – a puzzle that has occupied philosophers including René Descartes, David Hume, and Bernard Williams.

Lecturer

Dr Barney Walker is a Teaching Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on epistemology and philosophy of mind, especially with issues about enquiry, the value of knowledge, and the nature of belief.