Useful False Beliefs

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of false beliefs in the production of knowledge. False beliefs are generally thought to play no role in the production of knowledge, which some philosophers have defined as true belief that does not rely in an essential way on a falsehood. Cases are presented in which false beliefs play an essential role in both the justification and causal production of cognition. The chapter proposes a general account of the conditions in which such false beliefs, referred to as ‘useful false beliefs’, can make essential contributions to the acquisition of knowledge.

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