Final answer:
We are not always aware of the bases of our judgments because they can be influenced by unreliable sources, biases, misinformation, and cultural factors. The concept of 'no false premises' indicates that a true understanding must not be based on falsities, further complicating our awareness of the reasons behind our beliefs and judgments.
Step-by-step explanation:
The answer to the statement We are always aware of the bases of our judgments is b) False. This is because while we can have judgments based on intuition, experiences, and observations that seem to fit a particular narrative or understanding, our judgments are often influenced by a variety of factors that may include bias, misinformation, and incomplete knowledge. For instance, we often retain beliefs from sources such as memory, testimony, sense perception, and even imagination, some of which can be unreliable. Additionally, often people's beliefs and judgments are derived from longstanding traditions or passed-down 'wisdom' that has not been scientifically validated, leading to misconceptions—such as the belief that being cold causes one to catch a cold, which is medically inaccurate as colds are caused by viruses.
Moreover, the philosophical concept of 'no false premises' put forth by Gilbert Harman suggests that to truly know something, the belief must not be inferred from any falsities. This adds another layer of complexity to our awareness of the bases of our judgments. We may not always be aware of the premises upon which our judgments rest, and some of these premises might be false without our knowledge. This aligns with the realization that sentences expressing evaluations are not always making claims about what is known, but rather, they express how the evaluator thinks, which is influenced by a multitude of factors including culture and personal biases.