Lesson 1.2: Thinking About Knowledge

When a society tears itself apart over beliefs it cannot justify, philosophy steps in to ask what it really means to know anything at all. Topics explored The 16th and 17th centuries were marked by intense religious fanaticism and violence (e.g., the Peasant Rebellion, Münster, the Thirty Years’ War). These events pushed thinkers to demand firmer foundations for belief—not mere authority or dogma. But agreement proved impossible: philosophers disagreed sharply about what counts as justification and what a belief must rest on to be considered rational. Meanwhile, ancient texts and ideas—especially from Plato and the skeptics—were being rediscovered, raising old questions in a new era. The lesson introduces epistemology, the study of knowledge, and frames the central issue: What makes a belief justified? Plato’s Justified True Belief (JTB) theory sets the stage, but Agrippa’s Regress Argument challenges whether justification is possible at all (the setup for the next steps in the course). Pyrrhonian skepticism reappears as a powerful alternative: suspend judgment to achieve ataraxia, tranquility free from dogmatic conflict.