Epistemic Gradualism Versus Epistemic Absolutism

Abstract

Epistemic absolutism holds that knowledge-that is ungradable, while epistemic gradualism argues the opposite. This paper purports to remodel the gradualism/absolutism debate. The current model initiated by Stephen Hetherington fails to capture the genuine divergence between the two views, which makes the debate equivocal, and the gradualist side lacks appeal. I propose that the remodeled debate should focus on whether knowledge-that is a 'threshold concept' or a 'spectrum concept'. That is, whether there is a threshold distinguishing knowledge from non-knowledge. The reconstructed model enjoys significant advantages as it enables the debate to be more balanced and philosophically interesting.