Abstract:

Ernest Sosa discusses the two Platonic problems involving the nature of knowledge and value of knowledge. However, not only does knowledge involve a third Platonic question that Sosa fails to pay attention to, but the two Platonic problems that Sosa does pay attention to cannot be adequately solved without the third Platonic problem being taken care of. The third Platonic problem involves the impact of knowledge: Whether a person knowing full well is motivated to act accordingly. The fully apt moral belief produced by the epistemic competence in Sosa is not morally motivating. To solve the third Platonic problem, we can solicit help from WANG Yang-ming’s doctrine of liangzhi, examining the three unique features. In Yangming, moral knowledge is a kind of knowing-to that inclines one to act. Thus, one who knows in Sosa’s sense cannot be said to know full well since he or she is not motivated to act according to his or her knowledge.

Key words: Ernest Sosa, Plato, WANG Yang-ming, liangzhi, knowing-to, knowing full well