Final answer:
The belief that knowledge is recollection motivates energetic pursuit of truth in line with Plato's theory of justified true belief (JTB). Philosophers like Gettier and Harman question the JTB account by showing that true belief may not necessarily equate to knowledge. Skepticism regarding our ability to know encourages considering the degrees of believability over absolute knowledge claims.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question revolves around the belief that knowledge is recollection, which is a philosophical concept often attributed to Plato's theory of knowledge as justified true belief (JTB). According to this view, when we believe knowledge is something we are born with and simply need to recollect, it incentivizes us to actively seek out the truth and reinforces our energetic pursuit of it. This strong motivation for discovering truths is based on the notion that we must recognize a world that is independent of us and establish facts beyond our personal experiences.
In order to qualify as knowledge, a belief must meet three criteria: it must be true, there must be justification for the belief, and there must be belief in it. Historically, philosophers like Edmund Gettier and Gilbert Harman have critiqued this traditional view, pointing out scenarios where a person might have justified true belief without it necessarily constituting knowledge, primarily due to the lack of a proper connection between the belief and the evidence supporting it. Moreover, some sources of belief, such as memory and testimony, can be fallible. For instance, the belief that being cold causes colds is a widely held but medically inaccurate belief. This kind of critical thinking, distinguishing between seeming to remember and actually remembering, is essential for the pursuit of true knowledge. Academic skeptics went further by questioning our capacity for knowledge itself, opting instead to talk about degrees of belief, thereby setting the groundwork for understanding knowledge in terms of credibility and believability rather than absolute truth.