Philosophy discussion responses

Farmer Joe may have knowledge of his cow’s whereabouts because of his property size. Joe’s field may not be miles long so with a simple view across the field, he may be able to spot Daisy from where he is standing. He may also know about Daisy’s whereabouts because she may go to the same spot often so behind the trees may have been the first place he looked at. Joe may not have seen Daisy but if that she was the only black and white figure on his field, that could be enough confirmation for him. 

Farmer Joe looking from a distance believes he sees his cow, Daisy. For one, he is too far away to know if Daisy is truly safe. If she is behind some trees far away, he could be seeing daisy, but on the other side of her is a wolf ready to attack. According to our textbook "To have knowledge, our belief must be true, and we must have good reasons to believe it true"(Pojman 192). First off, Farmer Joe's belief is not proven to be true until he goes up to Daisy at a closer look. He must also have good reasons to believe it true. Is She protected by a herding dog? Are they good, solid fences to keep her from leaving the pasture and being attacked or hit? These are some things that could help prove that Daisy is safe. Also, at what level is a Cow safe in a pasture though? At any given moment, a predator could come and attack her. It seems that the safety of a cow is more of a loaded question than just gazing across a field at her, with partially blocked vision. As described, he only sees a black and white shape in the distance. She could be lying dead on the ground, or it could be another cow instead of daisy.

As per the description, Farmer Joe seems obsessed with his cow and is suspicious about its whereabouts; that is why he goes and checks for it. While it is mentioned that he only sees a black and white shape from a distance, he is confirmed by his cow's mere existence that it is there. Although it is not apparent here that whether it is the cow or not, so probably for Joe to be 100% sure of his cow on the field, the cow should be located in a distance where it is evident, or Joe can feel troubled. Pojman and Vaughn state, "You have only a true belief by accident, a lucky guess, and that's not knowledge. To have knowledge, our belief must be true, and we must have good reasons to believe it true. Knowledge, then, is true belief that is justified" (Pojman & Vaughn, 2017, p. 192). He feels that the cow has not moved because they usually tie down the cow on the spot where Joe can easily find Daisy. However, Joe needs to go up close to be sure that his cow is safe from any predators. 

With the scenario given, by Farmer Joe wanting further confirmation of Daisy’s safety he checks for himself rather than relying on his wife’s word—he sees a figure in the distance that he recognizes as Daisy, which is enough evidence for him to say he  knows that Daisy is in fact safe. This is an example of propositional knowledge: “knowledge of a proposition or knowing that something is the case. A proposition is a statement that is either true or false, an assertion that something is or is not a fact.” (Pojman & Vaughn, p.192) Farmer Joe believes he has knowledge of Daisy’s safety due to his own justification of seeing the figure in the distance. Realistically, him seeing a figure in the distance and his wife’s word of Daisy’s whereabouts are essentially the same—both with only knowing a certain percentage of actual safety. If farmer Joe really wanted to know Daisy’s location and safety he would have to get physically closer and see more than just a figure that he categorized as his cow, and see that Daisy is safe without potential predators around etc.

Farmer Joe might think that he knows Daisy is safe after seeing her out in the field, however, by the time he had gotten back inside, she could have moved. It is true that he had just seen her a second ago, but she still could have moved in a very short amount of time. So, really he might not know where she is anymore. For Farmer Joe to truly be able to say that he knows that Daisy is on that field, he needs to first be 100% sure that the black and white shape that he saw is Daisy, and then keep a close eye on her to make sure that she does not move from the field. Only then can Farmer Joe actually say that he knows Daisy's whereabouts.