In this chapter, I draw together the results of the study by characterizing the epistemic value of belief in Plato’s philosophy. The analysis has shown that belief is a versatile concept, capable of being true or false. Its value lies in enabling correct judgments about the sensible world, in providing an indispensable basis for inquiry into the intelligible, and in its potential to develop into knowledge. However, it likewise remains precarious, given belief’s vulnerability to lapse into ignorance. The study has established truth as the essential criterion of any valuable belief: only true beliefs can be evaluated in terms of their accuracy, clarity, usefulness, and stability, each of which admits of degrees. On this basis, epistemic progress can be understood as a movement from unstable and unclear true beliefs toward more accurate, clarified, and stabilized ones through investigation into their causes. In light of this account, the guiding questions of the study are here answered by drawing on the results of the entire investigation.

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Conclusion

  • Lee Klein

摘要

In this chapter, I draw together the results of the study by characterizing the epistemic value of belief in Plato’s philosophy. The analysis has shown that belief is a versatile concept, capable of being true or false. Its value lies in enabling correct judgments about the sensible world, in providing an indispensable basis for inquiry into the intelligible, and in its potential to develop into knowledge. However, it likewise remains precarious, given belief’s vulnerability to lapse into ignorance. The study has established truth as the essential criterion of any valuable belief: only true beliefs can be evaluated in terms of their accuracy, clarity, usefulness, and stability, each of which admits of degrees. On this basis, epistemic progress can be understood as a movement from unstable and unclear true beliefs toward more accurate, clarified, and stabilized ones through investigation into their causes. In light of this account, the guiding questions of the study are here answered by drawing on the results of the entire investigation.