Testimony - An Exploration of Our Trust in Others
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Whether it's in-person, over email, text or call, people constantly receive information from others. Epistemology views such information, referred to as testimony, as a crucial source of rational belief and knowledge. However, reductionists and anti-reductionists disagree on whether it is sufficient as a stand-alone source. This thesis presents three studies examining possible factors that influence our trust in the words of others. Participants were asked to rate how likely they thought the content of various reports were. Ratings differed depending on the type of information being reported, and the source of the report. There also appear to be differences associated with the gender of the source, but further testing should be done to get a better understanding of this result. Finally, participant level of education had no effect on ratings. Overall, the results of this thesis provide support for both the anti-reductionist and reductionist positions.
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Copyright © 2018 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.
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- 2018
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mclarens-testimonyanexplorationofourtrustinothers.pdf | 2023-05-05 | Public | Download |