Abstract
A notion of an ideal sense of knowledge is introduced. A formal language for sortals with a propositional operator formally representing such a notion is then defined. The formal language will contain temporal operators as well. A formal semantics for the language is defined and on its basis three sorts of semantic validity are distinguished, which correspond to nativist and non-nativist views of concept-formation. A formal system for epistemic-radical nativism is stated. Soundness and completeness can be shown for the system. The soundness and completeness proofs for non-nativist as well as partial nativist validity are left as open problems.
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Notes
- 1.
That is, knowledge as in one knows that p, for example, as in John knows that Costa Rica has protected 25% of its total territory in national parks. The acquaintance and the procedural senses of knowledge are senses alternative to the propositional sense. The acquaintance sense is determined by the objects one claims to be acquainted with, and the procedural sense by the competencies one claims to possess. An example of the former sense is the claim that John knows the president of France and of the latter the claim that John knows how to ride a car.
- 2.
As is well known, the defining features of propositional knowledge is still a subject of wide philosophical discussion and no agreement has yet been reached in that regard.
- 3.
A contemporary version of this philosophical approach can be found, for example, in Fodor (1975, 1981) (see also Fodor (2008), for an assessment of his earlier views on nativism). Fodor’s theory seems to imply that sortal concepts are innate. He explicitly states that the concept of being a doorknob, for instance, is innate.
- 4.
Details of these proofs can be found in Freund (2015).
References
Fodor, J. (1975). The language of thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Fodor, J. (1981). Representations: Philosophical essays on the foundations of cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fodor, J. (2008). Lot 2: The language of thought revisited. New York: Oxford University Press.
Freund, M. (2015). Epistemic-temporal logic and sortal predicates. South American Journal of Logic, 1, 219–247.
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Freund, M.A. (2019). Epistemic Sortal Logic. In: The Logic of Sortals. Synthese Library, vol 408. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18278-6_5
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