Can we coherently conceive of our having knowledge inserted into our minds, bypassing forms of knowledge acquisition hitherto relied on? Insofar as technology develops apace, it is wise to start thinking about how we would use it before its uses are available to us lest we should unreflectively abuse it. Second, while having knowledge inserted might turn out to be physically impossible, its metaphysical possibility would still make reflecting on its desirability fruitful, since evaluating this will help us to better understand what it is that we value about education and about knowledge. While handling practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge (or ‘knowledge how’ and ’knowledge that’) somewhat separately, I argue that, for each, insertion is conceivable. I contend that if a) we seem to be able to imagine inserting knowledge, b) our seeming to be able to imagine it survives extended critical reflection, and c) we can cash out what it would consist in with plausible detail, then we have defeasible reason for thinking that inserting knowledge is in fact metaphysically possible. In section II, I discuss five objections to the thesis, so as to subject the case to extended critical reflection. These include arguments that inserting knowledge requires inserting justification, but that justification cannot be inserted, that the possibility of inserting false beliefs undermines the possibility of self-trust which is crucial to knowledge tout court, that inserted content has the wrong causal history to count as knowledge, and that inserted knowledge would lack the appropriate connections to other mental items in order to count as knowledge. In section I, after motivating the question I briefly consider an imaginary scenario presented in the fictional film, The Matrix, as an example of what is meant by implanting or inserting knowledge. I then proceed to flesh out the scenario with some more plausible details to help make the case for its coherent conceivability.

中文翻译：

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知识可以插入吗？

我们能否连贯地设想将知识插入我们的头脑，而绕过迄今所依赖的知识获取形式？就技术的日新月异而言，明智的做法是开始思考我们将如何使用它，然后才能使用它，以免我们无意间滥用它。其次，尽管知识的插入可能在物理上是不可能的，但其形而上学的可能性仍将使人们对其渴望产生反思，因为对其进行评估将有助于我们更好地理解我们对教育和知识的重视。当我分别处理实践知识和理论知识（或“知识如何”和“知识”）时，我认为，对于每种知识，插入都是可行的。我认为，如果a）我们似乎能够想象插入知识，b）我们似乎能够想象它能够经受住扩展的批判性思考，并且c）我们可以用合理的细节兑现它所包含的内容，那么我们就有不可行的理由认为插入知识实际上是从形而上的可能。在第二部分中，我讨论了对论文的五个反对意见，以使案件受到扩展的批判性反思。这些论点包括以下论点：插入知识需要插入正当理由，但不能插入正当理由；插入错误信念的可能性破坏了对知识吹捧法院至关重要的自我信任的可能性；插入的内容具有错误的因果历史可算作是知识，并且所插入的知识将与其他心理项目缺乏适当的联系，才能算作知识。在第一部分 在提出问题之后，我简要地考虑了虚构电影《黑客帝国》中的假想场景，以此作为植入或插入知识的含义的一个例子。然后，我将用一些更合理的细节充实该场景，以帮助说明其连贯的构想。