Thesis
The Pyrrhonian problematic and generality in arguments concerning the structure of justification
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2011
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102294
Abstract
Some of the most interesting criticisms of foundationalism, coherentism, and infinitism have been shown to be rather general: some criticisms of a particular theory can be shown to apply to the competitor theories as well. This opens the door for a number of important questions. How many of the prominent arguments for or against the various structural theory theories can actually be generalized in the sense of applying to all competing theories? What does it mean if an argument or criticism can be generalized? If the property of generality is pervasive among prominent arguments, why is it pervasive? If the property of generality is pervasive among prominent arguments, what should we make of it? What would the consequences be for the debate about the structure of justification if generality is pervasive? We prepare the groundwork necessary to answer these questions. We explore foundationalism, coherentism, and infinitism so that we may assess a sample of the most prominent arguments concerning these theories. In particular, we study the regress argument for foundationalism, the alternate systems objection to coherentism, and the finite minds objection to infinitism. In the course of our study we find a peculiar result. For any of the three arguments, if we press it, the core permute into a general argument. In other words, the reasons offered in support of a given theory or to criticize a particular theory can, if pressed, be generalized such that they apply to all structural theory theories of justification. What should we make of this peculiar result? It is hard to say. While we cannot begin to explain this peculiarity in the present essay, we sketch a number of possible interpretations before closing.
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Details
- Title
- The Pyrrhonian problematic and generality in arguments concerning the structure of justification
- Creators
- Ryan Michael Hebert
- Contributors
- Joseph Keim Campbell (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525034501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis