This first half of this thesis investigates the epistemological foundations of mathematical theories, with special attention devoted to two questions: (1) how can we have a warrant for the satisfiability and consistency of mathematical theories, and (2) given we conceive of mathematical judgement as objective - as being concerned with a realm of abstract entities - can we have a warrant for thinking that such a realm of entities exists? In Chapter 2, two kinds of mathematical scepticism are developed. The regress sceptic argues that we can have a warrant for accepting neither the satisfiability nor the consistency of a mathematical theory. The I-II-III sceptic maintains that there can be no warrant for thinking that a realm of abstract entities exists if mathematical judgement is conceived as being objective. The notions of entitlement of cognitive project and entitlement of substance - recently introduced into the literature by Crispin Wright - are invoked to respond to the mathematical regress and I-II-III sceptic. This is done in Chapters 3 and 4. The distinctive feature of an entitlement is its non-evidential nature. What is relevant is not the presence of positive evidence, but rather the absence of sufficient countervailing evidence. The second half of the thesis explores and develops certain aspects of this proposal. Chapter 5 develops the notion of entitlement of cognitive project by investigating two of its three defining clauses. Chapter 6 draws a picture of a wider philosophical framework of which entitlement can be regarded an integrated part. In so doing entitlement is discussed in light of the internalism/externalism distinction and the distinction between monism and pluralism about epistemic value. Chapter 7 tables two fundamental challenges to the entitlement proposal - firstly, whether entitlement is an epistemic notion of warrant at all, and secondly, whether the notion of rationality associated with it is epistemic in nature or of some other kind?

Orientador: Lúcio Lourenço Prado / Banca: Márcio Benchimol Barros / Banca: Evandro Oliveira de Brito / Resumo: Este estudo tem como foco a teoria do conhecimento desenvolvida por Arthur Schopenhauer no Livro I de O mundo como vontade e como representação. Para realizá-lo, focaremos apenas o lado do mundo como representação, a realidade fenomênica, para procurar desvendar como o pensador alemão explica a possibilidade do conhecimento. Mais especificamente, os dois modos de conhecimento, o intuitivo e o abstrato, junto com seus objetos próprios, a representação intuitiva e a representação abstrata, além das faculdades de conhecimento responsáveis por cada um destes objetos. A investigação tentará delimitar os princípios que tornam o mundo da representação compreensível, formando, ao final, uma teoria sistemática do conhecimento. / Abstract: This study has as focus the theory of knowledge developed by Arthur Schopenhauer in the Book I of The world as will and representation. To perform it, we'll merely focus on the side of the world as representation, the phenomenal reality, to look for unravel how to the german thinker explains the possibility of the knowledge. More specifically, the two ways of knowledge, the intuitive and the abstract, together with their own objects, the intuitive representation and the abstract representation, beyond the faculty of the knowledge responsible for each of one these objects. The investigation will try to bound the principles that render the world of representation, understandable, forming, in the end, a systematic theory of knowledge. / Mestre

The intent of this study was to explore the impact of secondary educational contexts on college student formation and development. Semi-structured interviews were employed in order to elicit information from participants that revealed their personal perspectives regarding their approaches to acquiring, maintaining, and implementing knowledge. Students from three secondary educational contexts were included in this study: homeschool, private school, and public school. William G. Perry’s Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development and John David Trentham’s 10 Epistemological Priorities and Competencies were used as a theoretical lens. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were also employed in order to elicit information from parents, teachers, and administrators from each of the secondary educational contexts. A review of the precedent literature for this research presented theological, epistemological, theoretical, and educational foundations that defined the context of this research study. Overall, this research observed that epistemological positioning was generally consistent among evangelical undergraduates from differing pre-college learning environments, with homeschooler trailing slightly behind public and private school students, which reflected a range of positions within the Dualism stage to the mid stage of Multiplicity from the Perry Scheme. Additionally, this research observed that most entering freshmen have “emerging” epistemological competencies and priorities according to Trentham’s taxonomy. In addition, numerous prominent themes emerged from analysis of interviewees’ articulations that were identified as bearing relevance to how participants describe the impact of secondary educational contexts on students’ epistemological maturation and Christian formation. KEYWORDS: homeschool, private school, public school, college student, biblical wisdom, biblical worldview, knowledge of God, imago Dei, intellectual virtues, intellectual disciplines, sources of knowledge, Center for the Study of Intellectual Development (CSID), Christian formation, cognitive development, college student development, critical thinking, educational philosophy, dualism, epistemological development, epistemological maturity, faith and rationality, faith and reason, pre-college learning environment, secondary education, intellectual development, inverse consistency, multiplicity, Perry Scheme, Perry Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development, evangelical undergraduates, William G. Perry, Jr., John David Trentha

The epistemological problem of sincerity in testimony is often approached in the following way: We, as a matter of fact, accept utterances as sincere. We do so in the face of knowledge that people lie and deceive,and yet we still count these beliefs as good beliefs. Therefore there must be some reason or argument that we can cite in order to justify our acceptance of the sincerity of the speaker. In this thesis I will argue, contra this, that there is no reason, per se, that justifies our of a speakers sincerity: this is because recognition of the obligation to accept the sincerity is a necessary condition on the possibility of communication and interpretation. In the first three of the thesis I will argue against three of the main approaches to the problem by focusing on what I believe to be the strongest accounts of each: Elizabeth Fricker's reductionism, Tyler Burge's non-reductionism, and Paul Faulkner's trust account of testimony. In the final chapter I will put forward my positive account. I will argue that it is a constitutive rule of language that a speaker be sincere, and then make the further claim, that it is a constitutive rule of interpretation that the hearer take an utterance as sincere. On my account, successful communication does not just depend on a speaker making sincere utterances,but just as importantly,, on the hearer recognising an obligation to take those utterances as being sincere.

Expert systems are being developed despite the widely acknowledged problem of acquiring knowledge from experts. This study attempts to understand how knowledge acquisition is conducted in practice by investigating three expert system development projects. The variables examined include the expert, knowledge engineer, problem domain, organizational setting, the knowledge acquisition process, the expert system construction process, and the expert system itself. A case research methodology is adopted and data is collected through observation and taped protocol of knowledge acquisition sessions, post facto interviews with the participants involved, journalistic accounts kept by the subjects, and deliverables produced. Three cases on expert systems built in the domains of law of negligence, telephone line fault diagnostic, and wastewater treatment have been investigated. By juxtaposing the observations drawn from these cases with the findings reported in the literature, this inquiry contributes to the current understanding of the knowledge acquisition process. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Tacit coordination occurs when parties have to coordinate but communication is not possible. People are able to coordinate remarkably successfully through the use of focal points, choices that possess some characteristic that makes them significant to both parties. While a great deal of research has been undertaken to understand the mechanisms of focal points themselves, little research has directly and empirically investigated the role of the identity of the coordination partner. This study aimed to identify the effects of social distance, age, ethnicity and gender on tacit coordination in order to understand more about the contextual sensitivity of tacit coordination. An empirical repeated-measures design was used to collect data through the playing of two games. The first experiment was tested on 58 pairings of individuals, 29 pairs of strangers and 29 pairs of colleagues who knew each other relatively well. Subjects attempted to match choices on a table with their partner. The second experiment used a resource-allocation game with (n = 28) subjects each undergoing four treatments, a control treatment, a treatment with a partner of the opposite gender, a treatment with a partner of a different ethnicity and a partner much older than the subject. Results overall revealed that subjects who knew each other outperformed strangers in a matching scenario. Furthermore, subjects who had to share resources were more tentative about claiming resources from partners older than them or belonging to a different ethnicity. This indicates a low level of certainty of the actions of people with different social histories to the subject, as their focal points, saliences and norms are likely to be different. As tacit coordination underpins a large number of social and economic everyday interactions it is interesting to see the impact of a relatively simple visual or social cue on coordination success and coordinating behaviour. The research concluded with the practical implications of the research and suggestions for future research to build on the foundation of this research project. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014 / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

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