Is truth necessary for knowledge?

Question

So if (ok pre-Gettier) S knows P if and only if:
1. S believes/accepts P
2. Is justified in believing/accepting P
3. P is true
How does S know that he knows P? His only reasons for supposing that P is true is his justification. If that justification falls short of certainty then he may be justified in believing a false proposition. All theories of knowledge that look at justification (reliabalism etc) fall short of certainty. There appear to be two solutions:
1. Short of times when he is certain S cannot know that he knows P
2. S can know P even if it is false.

What do you reckon?

Answer 1

Hi Anthony,

You have me putting on my thinking cap. What you have described in your question is what every non-technical culture believes as truth. The observer sees an event S taking place. The observer then looks for the cause of the event S and finds P. P then becomes the knowledge of how S happens. This knowledge becomes truth if no other cause for S is apparent. It is the truth that is commonly accepted for that situation. However this is not truth because it is not provable and repeatable.

Truth in its very essence is a set of facts that leads us to the same conclusion because it can be verified in a controlled setting. Knowledge is what we think believe to be true based upon our own observations of the world around us. Knowledge is the first step in finding out the truth not the last.

Answer 2

Truth in philosophy is a sticky wicket. Once you define what is true you soon have a clustering of perceptions and beliefs that compete for validation and acknowledgment. To know the truth is to be buried in six feet of understandings.
knowledge is also a very relative concept. knowledge informs our perceptions and process but is by no means certain or infallible. Lack of knowledge may at times be an asset in that we can see without the cloud of prejudging and known 'truth'.
Don't over think this, all it is saying is don't worry be happy. Be flexible and let your mind wonder around like a child for a while.

Answer 3

so how does knowing/believing/accepting P contributes to knowledge?
if S blindly believes in P then knowledge isn't really necessary there is it?
the pursuit of the truth about P contributes to wanting knowledge
so YES truth is necessary for knowledge
otherwise our knowledge would still include that the world is flat

Answer 4

No. Truth helps, but is not necessary.

Of that I am certain.

If it were otherwise, there would be no works of fiction. There would be no such thing as imagination. "Suppose that . . ." and "what if . . ." would not have meaning.