Contextualist Critique of Subject-sensitive Invariants
Contextualist Critique of Subject-sensitive Invariants
1. Subject-sensitive invariantism disagrees with epistemic contextualism
on all but which of the following points?
(A) Whether the truth of knowledge claims depends partially on how
high the “stakes” are
(B) Whether it is the extension of a knowledge claim or the content
of a knowledge claim that is determined by context
(C) Whether know always means the same thing or its meaning changes
depending on context
(D) Whether it is the context of the subject of a knowledge claim or
the context of the attributor of a knowledge claim that determines
the standard of justification
(E) Whether what is required for knowledge itself may change depending
on context or is independent of context
2. Which of the following claims has been used most often to discredit
epistemic contextualism?
(A) The contextualist confuses warranted assertability conditions
with truth conditions.
(B) The contextualist has no way to respond to skepticism.
(C) The contextualist cannot point to any other words that are context
sensitive.
(D) The contextualist assumes that knowledge is even possible.
(E) The contextualist has no account of how context affects meaning.
128 ❯ McGraw-Hill’s 500 Philosophy Questions
3. A major strength of epistemic contextualism is often thought to consist
of its potential to provide a satisfying solution to .
(A) the problem of other minds
(B) the problem of evil
(C) philosophical skepticism
(D) the problem of vagueness
(E) questions concerning personal identity
4. According to , statements of the form “s knows that p”
are actually short for statements of the form “s knows that p rather than q.”
(A) relativism
(B) indexical contextualism
(C) subject-sensitive invariantism
(D) contrastivism
(E) internalism
Contextualist Critique of Subject-sensitive Invariants
5. Suppose I tell you, “It’s cold in here!” in order to get you to shut an open
window. The difference between the literal content, it is cold in here, and
the implied content, I would like you to shut the window, marks the
distinction between .
(A) semantics and pragmatics
(B) internalism and externalism
(C) contextualism and invariantism
(D) indexical contextualism and nonindexical contextualism
(E) assertability and truth
6. Invariantism, in the context of the semantics of knowledge, is the denial
of which of the following theories?
(A) Relativism
(B) Externalism
(C) Reliabilism
(D) Contextualism
(E) Internalism
Epistemology ❮ 129
7. Which of the following best describes a relativist model for the semantics
of know?
(A) Statements of the form “s knows that p” do not have a fixed meaning,
but change their meaning relative to contexts of utterance.
(B) All knowledge is relative.
(C) Statements of the form “s knows that p” are short for statements
of the form “s knows that p relative to standard φ.”
(D) The extension of statements of the form “s knows that p” is fixed
relative to the context of utterance.
(E) Statements of the form “s knows that p” are not true or false
simpliciter, but true or false relative to a contextually determined
standard of justification.
8. Which of the following makes the most sense as a contextualist critique
of subject-sensitive invariants?
(A) Our intuitions about ordinary language support the thesis that
the standard of justification is sensitive to the context of the attributor
of a knowledge claim rather than to the context of the subject of
a knowledge claim.
(B) Subject-sensitive invariantism does not provide a solution to the
problem of other minds.
(C) Our intuitions about ordinary language support the thesis that
statements of the form “s knows that p” are not true or false
absolutely, but true or false only relative to a contextually fixed
standard of justification.
(D) Subject-sensitive invariantism does not explain how context affects
the truth value of knowledge claims.
(E) Our intuitions about ordinary language support the thesis that
statements of the form “s knows that p” are actually short for
statements of the form “s knows that p rather than q.”
Contextualist Critique of Subject-sensitive Invariants
9. According to some epistemic contextualists, the word know functions
like an indexical. Which of the following words is not an example
of an indexical?
(A) Here
(B) I
(C) Meaning
(D) Tomorrow
(E) That
130 ❯ McGraw-Hill’s 500 Philosophy Questions
10. Which of the following constitutes the main challenge for invariantist
models for the semantics of know?
(A) Accounting for the intuitions about ordinary language cases that seem
to show that there are different senses of the word know
(B) Showing that the word know does indeed function like an indexical
(C) Accounting for the intuitions about ordinary language cases that seem
to show that there is only one sense of the word know
(D) Showing how an invariantist treatment of the semantics of know
can respond to skepticism in a satisfying way
(E) Accounting for the intuitions about ordinary language cases that seem
to show that most knowledge claims are just false
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