1. Anchalee June Bloxham
Helen Heidel
Otsile Mokoka
Senior Seminar Period: 6
A Gettier Case
Two swimmers, Jack Smith and Fredek Bardzecki, were both competitors in the
Olympics. Jack is competing for the United States, while Fredek competes for Russia. Jack
practiced everyday of the week for 8 hours nonstop, while Fredek only practiced for 4 hours.
Jack takes his swimming very seriously and will stop at nothing to win gold for the race,
while Fredek doesn’t care if he wins or loses because he was forced to join the Russian swim
team by his father. Out of ten practice races, Jack got gold in eight of them while Fredek only
got two gold medals.
Reflecting on the past events that happened before the race, Fredek did research on
who was sure to win gold for the biggest swimming event in the Olympics. Fredek formed
the following belief: the country with the most wins under its belt and the fasted average
qualifying time was going to win gold. Fredek clearly has excellent evidence for his belief, he
is justified in believing it; he has excellent evidence that an American is going to win the
event, and sees that the United States had the fastest average time during the qualifiers.
Furthermore, the belief is true; the swimmer who will win gold for the swimming event is an
American. Therefore, According to the tripartite theory of knowledge, Fredek knows that the
swimmer who will the event will be an American.
Fredek, however, does not know this. Despite Jack’s winnings in the past, full
dedication, long swimming practises and confidence, he did not win the race. He
underestimated the other competitors, thinking that they were no competition for him. Fredek
on the other hand, despite his frequent loses, little dedication, short swimming practises and
pessimistic views on the outcome of the race, did win the race. He managed to swim faster
than Jack in the end.
Fredek did not know that he owns an American passport that his parents had failed to
give him. Fredek was born in the United States but his parents moved when he was still a
baby. Fredek, the swimmer who won the swimming event, is in fact an American.