Everyone is certain and you are not sure of anything
Confidence is everywhere and you cannot find the ground.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How do we know what is true
Understand what it means to know something, using claims you meet every day.
Distinguish a claim being true, believing it and having good grounds for the belief. They are connected but not identical. Philosophers disagree about a complete definition of knowledge; ordinary cases can show why confidence or a lucky correct answer is not enough.
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A starting goal
I want to understand how philosophers think about knowledge and belief. Explore evidence, skepticism, and certainty through claims I might encounter in everyday life.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Try the stopped-clock problem
A familiar philosophical example: a clock has stopped at two o'clock. You look at it exactly when the actual time is two and conclude that it is two. Your belief happens to be true, but the clock was not reliably telling you the time.
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Identify what the example challenges
You believed the answer and had what seemed to be a normal reason for it. Yet its accuracy depended on luck. The Stanford analysis of knowledge discusses why cases like this challenge a simple account of knowledge as justified true belief. This does not settle every proposed alternative.
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Apply the distinction to a claim you encounter
If a forecast happened to be right, ask whether its method and evidence supported it before the outcome was known. A lucky result does not validate every method. Conversely, uncertainty does not make a factual claim a mere preference; examine the kind of claim and the available grounds.
Sources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: analysis of knowledge and epistemic luck. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- Philosophy
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons
- Pace
- Yours. One lesson at a time, as often as you like.
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store and Google Play, with an optional early testing list
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What raises the question for you: misinformation, science, religion, or philosophy itself?
- Do you tend toward too much certainty or too much doubt?
- Is there a claim you are trying to decide whether to believe?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You want to know what counts as evidence
Testimony, experience, authority and data all claim the title.
You are drawn to the big questions
How do we know anything is a question you keep returning to.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06Knowledge and belief
Justified true belief, its famous problems, and why the question is practical.
Skepticism
Ancient and modern doubt, and what it leaves standing.
Perception and testimony
What your senses and other people can and cannot establish.
Reason and evidence
Deduction, induction and how science justifies claims.
Certainty
Why absolute certainty is rare and why that is fine.
Everyday epistemology
Applying the ideas to news, experts and your own strong beliefs.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Distinguish belief, truth and justification
Compare belief, truth and justification, then test what counts as knowledge.
Weigh kinds of evidence
Rate testimony, perception, reasoning and authority for a given claim.
Calibrate your confidence
Hold beliefs with degrees of certainty that match the support.
Ideas this course corrects
Feeling certain establishes knowledge
Confidence is a psychological state. Ask whether the claim is true and the reasons are reliable.
A claim that cannot be tested in one way must be a preference
Mathematical, conceptual and empirical claims call for different kinds of justification. Avoid one test for every kind of question.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How do we know what is true: what can I do today?
Try the stopped-clock problem. A familiar philosophical example: a clock has stopped at two o'clock. You look at it exactly when the actual time is two and conclude that it is two. Your belief happens to be true, but the clock was not reliably telling you the time. Identify what the example challenges. You believed the answer and had what seemed to be a normal reason for it. Yet its accuracy depended on luck. The Stanford analysis of knowledge discusses why cases like this challenge a simple account of knowledge as justified true belief. This does not settle every proposed alternative. Apply the distinction to a claim you encounter. If a forecast happened to be right, ask whether its method and evidence supported it before the outcome was known. A lucky result does not validate every method. Conversely, uncertainty does not make a factual claim a mere preference; examine the kind of claim and the available grounds.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
Distinguish a claim being true, believing it and having good grounds for the belief. They are connected but not identical. Philosophers disagree about a complete definition of knowledge; ordinary cases can show why confidence or a lucky correct answer is not enough. It sits under Philosophy in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Most courses run 7 to 30 lessons. The course length is sized to what you asked for. You set the pace: one lesson at a time, as often as you like. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
A starting goal
I want to understand how philosophers think about knowledge and belief. Explore evidence, skepticism, and certainty through claims I might encounter in everyday life.
Want new features first?