RC.047 Negative Inference
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Skill Level🔴 Hard
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Passage
A philosopher argues that much ordinary knowledge depends on testimony: no person can independently repeat every experiment, inspect every archive, or witness every distant event. Testimony is not therefore immune from criticism. Conflict of interest, contradiction, and a speaker's poor access can defeat an initial reason to trust. Rational hearers begin with defeasible acceptance in many contexts and revise it when specific warning signs appear.