Justification, what distinguishes a good justification from a bad one?

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                                                                  TOK Essay                                                  Tariq Ameer

Period D #116

                                          22/10/2011

Justification is a fact, reason, explanation, or a circumstance that defends a statement or a theory. Although there is no single definition agreed upon, knowledge is justified true belief.  As Richard van de Lagemaat said, “In order for you to be able to say you know something you must be able to justify your belief.” You can justify your knowledge claim by appealing to one of the four ways of knowing, which are language, perception, reason, and emotion. So the question is what distinguishes a good justification from a bad one? Although justification is not infallible, reliability is what distinguishes a good justification from a bad one.

Before looking at what a good justification is, we must first look at what the truth is. The truth is what distinguishes knowledge from belief. Believing something does not make it true because truth is independent from what anyone thinks or believes. If you believe something, it may or may not be true, but when you know something, then your claim must be true. Even if everyone believes something is true, it may still be false. For example when everyone in the Middle Ages believed that seven planets orbited the Earth, they were proved wrong as scientists later discovered that there are nine planets that orbit the Sun. In 2006, what was believed as the truth by many at that time, turned out to be false as they discovered that Pluto does not orbit the Sun. This “true” statement in the future may also be proven wrong, and as a result it is really hard to be certain of the truth.

When you believe something, you are accepting that it is true and that it exists. If you claim to know something, it must be true and you but must believe it to be true. Belief is knowledge if the belief is true, and if the believer has a justification. But when it comes to knowledge, belief is a subjective requirement. Being subjective means that along with facts you put personal opinions and feelings into an argument, which may then make your argument biased and even invalid. When it comes to the number of planets orbiting the Sun, whether or not I believe it, does not change the fact that it is true.

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Unlike belief, justification is required when it comes to knowledge. Even though you may have true belief, in order to be able to say that you know something you must be able to justify it, and not every justification is acceptable. What really distinguishes a good and acceptable justification from a bad one is mainly reliability. For the justification to be accepted, the source has to be constantly good in quality and performance and dependable that it gains the people’s trust. An example of a reliable source could be the New York Times, because I have been reading it for ...

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