Epistemic instrumentalism and the reason to believe in accord with the evidence
Synthese 195 (9):3791-3809 (2018)
Abstract
Epistemic instrumentalists face a puzzle. In brief, the puzzle is that if the reason there is to believe in accord with the evidence depends, as the instrumentalist says it does, on agents’ idiosyncratic interests, then there is no reason to expect that this reason is universal. Here, I identify and explain two strategies instrumentalists have used to try and solve this puzzle. I then argue that we should find these strategies wanting. Faced with the failure of these strategies, I articulate a heretofore neglected solution on behalf of instrumentalism.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s11229-016-1245-3
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Citations of this work
In Defense of Constitutivism About Epistemic Normativity.David Horst - 2022 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 103 (2):232-258.
Justifying method choice: a heuristic-instrumentalist account of scientific methodology.Till Grüne-Yanoff - 2020 - Synthese 199 (1-2):3903-3921.
The Case for Stance Dependent Reasons.David Sobel - 2019 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 15 (2).
References found in this work
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Self-Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity.Christine Korsgaard - 2009 - Oxford University Press.
The Value of Knowledge and the Pursuit of Understanding.Jonathan L. Kvanvig - 2003 - Cambridge University Press.