"The Mouse Who Ate the Cheese" 10-9-08

1. Bill was sure he KNEW the mouse ate the cheese because he has empirical knowledge of it; he witnessed the act with his own eyes (while he knew he was not drunk, dreaming, or hallucinating). This reason is a good one because empiracal knowledge is considered one of the four justifications of truth; although they can be faulty, they are the closest justifications of truth that we can trust.
2. Their reasons for claiming they knew it was the truth is that it came from a reliable source; they knew Bill and that he was trustworthy and not drunk. I don't think their reasons were quite adequate because, while we know it was the truth, I don't think THEY really can KNOW, because theoretically, Bill could have made a mistake and only THOUGHT he saw the mouse-he may be trustworthy but the human brain and body is not perfect 100% of the time. Virginia and Adrian had no personal connection to what happened and they are putting a large amount of trust in one person (who was bored and could have POSSIBLY imagined it),
3. She could not KNOW a mouse ate the cheese because that is only her guess; she had no personal connection to or evidence of this supposed act. It is not justified, and she knows this, so she only claims belief. Maybe it was giant ants who had come and carried it off instead, how should she know?
4. Yes they all had to believe the mouse ate the cheese because you cannot KNOW something without believing it, and if they claim to KNOW, they must first believe. They had a firm conviction (not the religious kind, i just can't think of the right word) that it happened and they have no doubt about it. You cannot say "I KNOW the car is red" but not believe it... same with the mouse- you got to believe before you can know.
5. George obviously could not KNOW the mouse ate the cheese because he does not believe it. He does not believe it because he has so convinced himself, as have the authorative terminators, that there could not POSSIBLY be mice in the flat. He can not even comprehend it because this is what he has been believing, and he can't get out of the state of mind that THERE ARE NO MICE HERE. I think even if he SAW the mouse he still might not be convinced because he might brush it off as a trick of the mind, of paranoia or the like. But I think if he TOUCHED the mouse, felt it run over his foot or something, and then heard it gobbling up the cheese with glee he might believe it. Empirical knowledge is often the easiest to trust when one does not trust the judgement of others.
6. Everyone would have KNOWN the mouse ate the cheese if they were all "reasonable" and could comprehend and believe truth when they saw/felt/etc it. Perhaps if Bill had taken a video of the mouse eating the cheese, so that everyone could be sure they were not just hallucinating, they would all know it.

This story shows us that we obtain knowledge in different ways, either by empirical knowledge, rationalism, etc. Since Bill seemed the most firm in his belief and knowledge, to me it seems to show that personal experience is often the most common/accepted way of obtaining knowledge. A problem of knowledge this points out is the possibility for faults in justification of the "truth". For example, George was told by authority (the terminators) that there were no mice, and he knew from that that there were none. However, we do not know if the terminators were correct in their analyzation (at the time, there could have been that mouse there, or not, we don't know.) Virginia and Adrian claim to know the fact because they heard it from a reliable source, but what IF he had been mistaken??