Peirce, perfect knowledge, and the Gettier problem

Abstract

C. S. Peirce characterized “perfect knowledge” as an opinion that is “quite settled” so that it cannot be undermined by future inquiry. Peirce’s “perfect knowledge” is a forward-looking concept, thus genuine (perfect) knowledge is extendable and requires the ability to defend the knowledge claim against objections. Such knowledge claims are not vulnerable to Gettier-type counter-examples. Peirce’s condition for perfect knowledge may be satisfied even if an inquirer’s belief lacks “internal” justification or is based on some false evidential propositions. Inaccurate experimental results which are sufficiently close to the truth can sometimes justify true conclusions.