Abstract

Reasonable certainty in science and philosophy: It is argued that, as forms of knowledge, neither science is so safe nor philosophy is as arbitrary as often claimed. Mathematics and experimental science are founded on postulates that must be accepted axiomatically and cannot be justified with the rigor that is eventually expected from both disciplines. That acceptance entails the conscious or unconscious adoption of specific philosophical choices. The same can be said of other statements which enjoy so wide a consensus that their philosophical character is eclipsed. The ontological status of specific instances of such widely accepted assertions is discussed. It is concluded that, in the adventure of life, the elusive myth of sure knowledge must be replaced by the tangible prose of reasonable certainty. It is proposed that the necessary and successful vital bet on reasonable certainties, that already enjoy a wide consensus, may be extended to other philosophical spheres which so far have been perceived by some as the domain of the arbitrary.