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KK thesis

The KK thesis or KK principle (also known as epistemic transparency or positive introspection) is a principle of epistemic logic which states that "If you know that P is the case then you know that you know that P is the case." This means that one cannot know that P is, if one does not know whether one's knowledge of P is correct.

Version
v1 · 2026-09-28 · History
Domain-specific #
10258
Domain group
Humanities
Origin domain
Philosophy
Subdomains
Epistemology, Epistemic Logic → Philosophy

Core Idea

KK thesis is treated here as the recurring social sciences, humanities, and arts identity summarized by this source-grounded definition: The KK thesis or KK principle (also known as epistemic transparency or positive introspection) is a principle of epistemic logic which states that "If you know that P is the case then you know that you know that P is the case." This means that one cannot know that P is, if one does not know whether one's knowledge of P is correct.

Scope of Application

  • Documented setting. Its application in science can be expressed in the way that it must not only justify its knowledge claims but it must also justify its method of justifying.

  • Principle. An application of the principle may involve Hume's skepticism, which holds that it is not possible to know the induction hypothesis needed to determine the derivative knowledge that P from what.

  • Principle. In formal notation, the principle can be stated as: "Kp→KKp" (literally: "Knowing p implies the knowing of knowing p").

  • Principle. It is said that the wide acceptance of the thesis steered many philosophers of science towards skepticism since the thesis features infinite regress and that to know is interpreted as "to.

  • Principle. This finally leads to the Humean skeptical conclusion if it is attained using KK hypothesis.

Clarity

A clear use of KK thesis names the carrier, the operative relation, and the conditions under which the source treats the identity as present. The minimal definition is The KK thesis or KK principle (also known as epistemic transparency or positive introspection) is a principle of epistemic logic which states that "If you know that P is the case then you know that you know that P is the case.".

Manages Complexity

KK thesis compresses multiple social sciences, humanities, and arts details into a stable diagnostic relation. The source shows both the central mechanism—it is also said that the thesis had been disputed since the introduction of the epistemic logic by Jaakko Hintikka in 1962.—and the practical consequence—in formal notation, the principle can be stated as: "Kp→KKp" (literally: "Knowing p implies the knowing of knowing p").

Abstract Reasoning

  1. Type the carrier. Identify the social sciences, humanities, and arts entities to which the claim applies.
  2. State the relation. Use the source-grounded identity: The KK thesis or KK principle (also known as epistemic transparency or positive introspection) is a principle of epistemic logic which states that "If you know that P is the case then you know that you know that P is the case." This means that one cannot know that P is, if one does not know whether one's knowledge of P is correct.

Knowledge Transfer

Within the home domain. Knowledge about KK thesis transfers literally when a new case preserves the same carrier type, relation, and recognition test. Its application in science can be expressed in the way that it must not only justify its knowledge claims but it must also justify its method of justifying. An application of the principle may involve Hume's skepticism, which holds that it is not possible to know the induction hypothesis needed to determine the derivative knowledge that P from what is already.

Neighborhood in Abstraction Space

KK thesis sits in a sparse region of the domain-specific corpus (64th percentile for distinctiveness): few abstractions share its structure, so a faithful description tends to retrieve it precisely.

Family — Informal Fallacies of Perspective (6 abstractions)

Nearest neighbors

Computed from structural-signature embeddings · 2026-10-08