Arrested Development and Philosophy_ They've Made a Huge Mistake - Kristopher G. Phillips [72]
In what must have been an attempt to maintain relevance in the philosophical literature, the writers of Arrested Development incorporated Gettier-style cases into the show. Consider the following three examples:
Case 4: Faith is not a fact!
In an effort to make the most of his time in prison, George Sr. makes a collection of divinely inspired videos called Caged Wisdom. Under the guise of an ardent fan of his Torah teachings, an undercover government agent, Cindi Lightballoon, is able to get close to George Sr. Before long, Cindi develops an infatuation with George Sr., and in order to show her love, Cindi discloses to George Sr. that the government has no case against him. As a result, George Sr. forms the belief that “we need to fight this thing, the government has no case against me . . . I know this for a fact.” George Sr.’s belief seems to be justified. After all, he heard directly from a government agent that the government has no case against him. Additionally, it is true that the government doesn’t have a case against him. However, unbeknownst to George Sr., Cindi only believed that the government had no case against him as a result of blind faith (thanks to a failure on Cindi’s part to discern Caged Wisdom from the Caged Wisdom “Blooper Reel”). But surely, we would not think George Sr. actually knew the government had no case, even though it was a justified true belief. Contrary to his suggestion, George Sr. did not know, for a fact, that he could “beat this thing.”
Case 5: Hey, Uncle-Father Dad
Late one night, in the midst of a deep sleep (likely after being tucked in by his mother), Buster is suddenly woken up by a person who he takes to be his Uncle Oscar. After all, the person is visually identical to his Uncle Oscar, long hair and all. The brief conversation between Buster and his visitor consisted of the visitor telling Buster a number of things including, notably, “I’m not your uncle, I’m your father.” As a result of this interaction, Buster forms the belief that “my uncle is my father.” Surely Buster’s belief is justified, someone who looks exactly like his uncle tells him that he is his father. Additionally, it is true that Oscar is Buster’s biological father. However, unbeknownst to Buster, the person who woke him up was George Sr., cleverly disguised as his twin brother Oscar. As a result, we would not want to say that Buster knows that Oscar is his real father, even though it was a justified-true-belief.
Case 6: She’s a lawyer! That’s Latin for ‘Liar’!
After running into an old fling, Maggie Lizer, Michael comes to believe that Maggie is not carrying his child. After all, he knows Maggie as a pathological liar. So when she eventually tells him that he is the father of her child, he has reason to disbelieve. Additionally, Michael enlists Tobias and Lindsay to search Maggie’s house for evidence. Lindsay calls Michael to tell him that they discovered a pregnancy bodysuit in Maggie’s possession. Thus, Michael’s belief that Maggie is not carrying his child seems to be justified. It also turns out that Michael’s belief is true: Maggie is not carrying his child. This is a particularly tricky case, because for a moment it seems as though, unbeknownst to Michael, the pregnancy bodysuit that Tobias and Lindsay found really belonged to one of Maggie’s clients. Thus, it seems extremely lucky that Michael formed the belief he did. Of course, that suit really did belong to Maggie all along, but Maggie replaced it with a more realistic, synthetic model. As a result of all of this, we would not want to say Michael had knowledge, even though he had a justified true belief.
First You Dump All Over It, Now You Want to Know How It’s [Solved] . . .
While many epistemologists have been skeptical of the original Gettier cases, the success of the Arrested Development Gettier-style cases forces additional refinement to the traditional account of knowledge. Although there is, in general, agreement amongst contemporary epistemologists