Developing the Total Knowledge account in truthmaker semantics: a bilateral approach

This paper introduces a novel semantic framework for knowledge based on the truthmaker-based logic proposed by Saitta (J Philos Log 53:1067–1107, 2024). The framework models a subject-matter-sensitive knowledge operator grounded in the notion of con- tainment between bilateral propositions. By adopting truthmaker semantics, it provides a non-idealized account of knowledge that avoids the problem of logical omniscience and reflects the epistemic states of real-world agents. We build on the Total Knowledge account, enhancing its expressive power and refining its epistemic function to better align with the idea of exactness of the relation of verification in truthmaker semantics. This refinement allow us to model two key features of non-idealized knowledge: (1) the representation of fragmented epistemic states, and (2) the distinction between non-knowledge and falsification of knowledge.