The evolutionary formation of the mind is, as Eliezer points out, based on the truth, and not on justification. Mutation throws one brain after another at the problems of life, and the brains that generate true beliefs are the ones that tend to survive. No justification is involved at this stage. For example, suppose that Occam’s razor is true (to understand this, translate the method called “Occam’s razor” into the appropriate assertion about the world so that it can be assigned a truth value). Then brains that apply Occam’s razor will tend to survive. Notice what is happening here: the truth of Occam’s razor is causing the evolution of brains that apply it. What this means is that the recognition is not mere accident. We apply Occam’s razor because it is true. Generally speaking, if the truth of X causes the belief that X, then that belief is not mere arbitrary belief but can arguably be called knowledge. So, if Occam’s razor is true and if we evolved to apply it, then our application of Occam’s razor constitutes knowledge about the world. It does not, however, constitute knowledge from the more narrow point of view of “justified true belief”.
This suggests that we have knowledge about the world which we are unable to justify but which is nevertheless knowledge and not mere arbitrary belief.
The evolutionary formation of the mind is, as Eliezer points out, based on the truth, and not on justification. Mutation throws one brain after another at the problems of life, and the brains that generate true beliefs are the ones that tend to survive. No justification is involved at this stage. For example, suppose that Occam’s razor is true (to understand this, translate the method called “Occam’s razor” into the appropriate assertion about the world so that it can be assigned a truth value). Then brains that apply Occam’s razor will tend to survive. Notice what is happening here: the truth of Occam’s razor is causing the evolution of brains that apply it. What this means is that the recognition is not mere accident. We apply Occam’s razor because it is true. Generally speaking, if the truth of X causes the belief that X, then that belief is not mere arbitrary belief but can arguably be called knowledge. So, if Occam’s razor is true and if we evolved to apply it, then our application of Occam’s razor constitutes knowledge about the world. It does not, however, constitute knowledge from the more narrow point of view of “justified true belief”.
This suggests that we have knowledge about the world which we are unable to justify but which is nevertheless knowledge and not mere arbitrary belief.