--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In my view (animal) knowledge is apt…" description: "\"In my view (animal) knowledge is apt belief, where not only the belief (its existence and content) but also its correctness is creditable to the subjec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg" --- # In my view (animal) knowledge is apt belief, where not… ![“In my view (animal) knowledge is apt belief, where not only the belief (its existence and content) but also its correctness is creditable to the subject's competence.” quote by Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg) > “In my view (animal) knowledge is apt belief, where not only the belief (its existence and content) but also its correctness is creditable to the subject's competence.” [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge requires justified true belief plus competence to assess its correctness. **In simple terms:** Knowledge = belief + truth + competence. Key Takeaway Cultivate competence to validate beliefs. Themes epistemology knowledge competence Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - academic research - critical thinking - education policy Key Concepts justified belief cognitive virtue Questions to Reflect On - How can we assess competence in belief formation? - What role does expertise play in knowledge? A Different Perspective Competence is hard to measure objectively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [Animal knowledge is metaphysically constituted by apt belief, by belief whose correctness manifests the believer's epistemic competence, a relevant disposition to get it right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/animal-knowledge-is-metaphysically-constituted-by-apt-belief-by/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Talk of belief in these animals is not some kind of anthropomorphism. We simply cannot explain the kinds of problem solving and behavioral sophistication…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/talk-of-belief-in-these-animals-is-not-some-kind-of-anthropomorphism/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [ It's not a lack of competence that is preventing the \[Barack\] Obama administration from stopping these attacks. It is political correctness. We didn't monitor… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/it-s-not-a-lack-of-competence-that-is-preventing-the-barack-obama/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [The correctness of much testimonially based belief is no more than minimally creditable to the believer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/the-correctness-of-much-testimonially-based-belief-is-no-more-than/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If we have a better understanding of knowledge than we do of such justification or competence, then we can explain the latter through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/if-we-have-a-better-understanding-of-knowledge-than-we-do-of-such/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [In order to qualify as a judgment, an affirmation must aim at getting it right aptly, through competence, and not just through a lucky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/in-order-to-qualify-as-a-judgment-an-affirmation-must-aim-at-getting/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [You attain aptness by judging while in good shape and in a good situation (good light, good distance, etc.), through the exercise of good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/you-attain-aptness-by-judging-while-in-good-shape-and-in-a-good/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Attempts are found in domains of human performance, such as sports, games, artistic domains, professional domains like medicine and the law, and so on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/attempts-are-found-in-domains-of-human-performance-such-as-sports/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Epistemic competence might be posterior to knowledge conceptually, however, while still prior metaphysically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/epistemic-competence-might-be-posterior-to-knowledge-conceptually/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [One does not avoid incompetence if one makes an attempt whose likelihood of success is too low. This seems little more than analytic: when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/one-does-not-avoid-incompetence-if-one-makes-an-attempt-whose/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Given its more substantial aim, a judgment is apt only if its constitutive alethic affirmation is not only apt but aptly apt. The subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/given-its-more-substantial-aim-a-judgment-is-apt-only-if-its/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/success-is-better-than-failure-an-attempt-is-a-better-attempt-it-is/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If a shot aimed at aptness succeeds aptly, it is then fully apt, since it is not only apt but also aptly apt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/if-a-shot-aimed-at-aptness-succeeds-aptly-it-is-then-fully-apt-since/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [When you dream, your perceptual (and other) competence is affected. You are then unable to get it right competently with the beliefs in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-you-dream-your-perceptual-and-other-competence-is-affected-you/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## More by Ernest Sosa > [Philosophers need not much use the word 'intuition' or the concept of intuition, except when they happen to be working on the epistemology of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/philosophers-need-not-much-use-the-word-intuition-or-the-concept-of/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [When you dream, your perceptual (and other) competence is affected. You are then unable to get it right competently with the beliefs in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-you-dream-your-perceptual-and-other-competence-is-affected-you/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Ultimately, my more significant agreement is with a virtue tradition that features Aristotle and Descartes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/ultimately-my-more-significant-agreement-is-with-a-virtue-tradition/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [It is bad to want something that not even God could attain, especially when the impossibility becomes obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-bad-to-want-something-that-not-even-god-could-attain-especially/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [I am mainly concerned with unqualified knowledge, by contrast with the varieties of expert knowledge: scientific knowledge of various sorts, legal knowledge, medically expert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/i-am-mainly-concerned-with-unqualified-knowledge-by-contrast-with-the/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If a shot aimed at aptness succeeds aptly, it is then fully apt, since it is not only apt but also aptly apt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/if-a-shot-aimed-at-aptness-succeeds-aptly-it-is-then-fully-apt-since/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [It is also certain that when we assent to some piece of reasoning when our perception of it is lacking, then either we go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-also-certain-that-when-we-assent-to-some-piece-of-reasoning/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We need some standard that will determine how likely a belief is to be true given just that it is stored in one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-need-some-standard-that-will-determine-how-likely-a-belief-is-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Descartes's epistemology is a special case of Aristotle's virtue ethics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/descartes-s-epistemology-is-a-special-case-of-aristotle-s-virtue/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [There isn't a formal definition of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/there-isn-t-a-formal-definition-of-success/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/success-is-better-than-failure-an-attempt-is-a-better-attempt-it-is/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Judgment is affirmation with the intention to thereby affirm competently enough, and indeed aptly. That distinguishes judgments from mere guesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/judgment-is-affirmation-with-the-intention-to-thereby-affirm/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Given its more substantial aim, a judgment is apt only if its constitutive alethic affirmation is not only apt but aptly apt. The subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/given-its-more-substantial-aim-a-judgment-is-apt-only-if-its/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) [Explore all 54 Ernest Sosa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In my view (animal) knowledge is apt belief, where not only the belief (its existence and content) but also its correctness is creditable to the subject's competence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Sosa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belief-where-not-only-the-belief/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belief-where-not-only-the-belief/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belie_1931913.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In my view (animal) knowledge is apt belief, where not only the belief (its existence and content) but also…” — Ernest Sosa", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ernest Sosa", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In my view (animal) knowledge is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belief-where-not-only-the-belief/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/in-my-view-animal-knowledge-is-apt-belief-where-not-only-the-belief/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```