The Abductivist Reply to Skepticism
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 79 (3):605-636 (2009)
| Abstract | Abductivists claim that explanatory considerations (e.g., simplicity, parsimony, explanatory breadth, etc.) favor belief in the external world over skeptical hypotheses involving evil demons and brains in vats. After showing how most versions of abductivism succumb fairly easily to obvious and fatal objections, I explain how rationalist versions of abductivism can avoid these difficulties. I then discuss the most pressing challenges facing abductivist appeals to the a priori and offer suggestions on how to overcome them | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,865 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJames Beebe (2009). The Abductivist Reply to Skepticism. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 79 (3):605-636.
James R. Beebe (2007). BonJour's Abductivist Reply to Skepticism. Philosophia 35 (2):181-196.
Matthew B. Gifford (forthcoming). Skepticism and Elegance: Problems for the Abductivist Reply to Cartesian Skepticism. Philosophical Studies.
Peter J. Graham (2007). The Theoretical Diagnosis of Skepticism. Synthese 158 (1):19 - 39.
Jessica M. Wilson (2012). The Regress Argument Against Cartesian Skepticism. Analysis 72 (4):668-673.
Ram Neta (2004). Skepticism, Abductivism, and the Explanatory Gap. Philosophical Perspectives 14 (1):296-325.
Paul Kurtz (2010). Exuberant Skepticism. Prometheus Books 59 John Glenn Drive.
Alexander S. Harper (2010). Fallibilism, Contextualism and Second-Order Skepticism. Philosophical Investigations 33 (4):339-359.
Bryan Frances (2008). Live Skeptical Hypotheses. In John Greco (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Skepticism. Oxford.
James Beebe (2008). BonJour's Arguments Against Skepticism About the "a Priori". Philosophical Studies 137 (2):243 - 267.
Joshua Seigal (2010). Skeptical Theism, Moral Skepticism, and Divine Deception. Forum Philosophicum 15 (2):251-274.
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (ed.) (2004). Pyrrhonian Skepticism. Oxford University Press.
John Greco (2006). How to Be a Pragmatist: C. I. Lewis and Humean Skepticism. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 42 (1):24-31.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-01-09Total downloads5 ( #161,910 of 556,803 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #39,010 of 556,803 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
