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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

182973

Defeasibility without inductivism

Juan Comesaña

pp. 181-192

Abstract

Four principles widely accepted in contemporary epistemology, lead to a contradiction. According to one such principle, it is possible to be justified in believing a proposition on the basis of evidence that does not entail it., call this "inductivism". In this paper, I want to examine one solution to the problem which has not received much attention in the literature: abandoning skepticism. Many authors have assumed that only inductive evidence is defeasible. If the assumption is correct, then giving up Inductivism entails giving up the defeasibility of justification. This result should be particularly unpalatable to virtue epistemologists, for it suggests an untenable kind of dogmatism on the part of subjects who are justified. I argue, however, that a belief can be defeasibly justified even if the evidence entails it. It is open to anyone, including the virtue epistemologist, to give up Inductivism as a solution to the problem.

Publication details

Published in:

Fairweather Abrol (2014) Virtue epistemology naturalized: bridges between virtue epistemology and philosophy of science. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 181-192

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-04672-3_11

Full citation:

Comesaña Juan (2014) „Defeasibility without inductivism“, In: A. Fairweather (ed.), Virtue epistemology naturalized, Dordrecht, Springer, 181–192.