Gettier problems shake up our understanding of knowledge. They show how justified true beliefs can fall short, challenging the idea that these three elements are enough for knowledge. This revelation sparked debates about luck's role in what we know.

Philosophers scrambled to patch up the theory of knowledge after Gettier. They proposed new conditions and reassessed how justification works. These problems still influence how we think about knowledge today.

Gettier and His Counterexamples

Gettier's Challenge to Traditional Knowledge Theory

• Edmund Gettier published "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?" in 1963
• Paper presented counterexamples to the traditional tripartite theory of knowledge
• Tripartite theory defines knowledge as justified true belief
• Gettier cases demonstrate scenarios where justified true beliefs fail to qualify as knowledge
• Accidental true belief occurs when a person holds a true belief for reasons unrelated to its truth

Structure and Impact of Gettier Cases

• Gettier cases typically involve a person forming a justified belief based on false evidence
• By coincidence, the belief turns out to be true, despite the faulty justification
• Cases highlight the role of luck in knowledge acquisition
• Two famous Gettier examples include the "Job Seeker" and "Fake Barn" scenarios
• Job Seeker case involves Smith believing Jones will get a job, but Smith unknowingly gets it instead
• Fake Barn case involves a person correctly identifying a barn in an area full of barn facades

Philosophical Implications of Gettier Problems

• Gettier cases challenge the sufficiency of justified true belief for knowledge
• Reveal potential gaps in our understanding of justification and its relationship to truth
• Sparked debates about the nature of knowledge and epistemic luck
• Led philosophers to propose additional conditions for knowledge (no false lemmas, sensitivity, safety)
• Raised questions about the reliability of our belief-forming processes

Implications for Justification and Knowledge

Epistemic Luck and Its Role in Knowledge

• Epistemic luck refers to chance factors influencing the truth or justification of beliefs
• Gettier cases demonstrate how luck can undermine knowledge claims
• Types of epistemic luck include veritic luck (truth-related) and reflective luck (justification-related)
• Philosophers debate whether any form of luck is compatible with genuine knowledge
• Attempts to eliminate luck from knowledge led to theories like sensitivity and safety conditions

Reassessing Justification in Light of Gettier Problems

• Gettier cases question the reliability of justification in guaranteeing knowledge
• Internalist vs. externalist approaches to justification emerged in response
• Internalism focuses on factors within the believer's cognitive perspective
• Externalism emphasizes objective reliability of belief-forming processes
• Defeasibility theory proposes knowledge requires justification that cannot be defeated by additional true information

Knowledge Attribution and Epistemological Theories

• Gettier problems influenced how we attribute knowledge in everyday and philosophical contexts
• Led to more nuanced analyses of when we can legitimately claim to "know" something
• Sparked development of contextualist theories of knowledge attribution
• Subject-sensitive invariantism emerged as an alternative to contextualism
• Raised questions about the value of knowledge over mere true belief