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Münchhausen Trilemma
In epistemology, the Münchhausen trilemma, also commonly known as the Agrippan trilemma, is a thought experiment intended to demonstrate the theoretical impossibility of proving any truth, even in the fields of logic and mathematics, without appealing to accepted assumptions. If it is asked how any given proposition is known to be true, proof may be provided. Yet that same question can be asked of the proof, and any subsequent proof. The Münchhausen trilemma is that there are only three ways of completing a proof: * The circular argument, in which the proof of some proposition presupposes the truth of that very proposition * The regressive argument, in which each proof requires a further proof, ''ad infinitum'' * The dogmatic argument, which rests on accepted precepts which are merely asserted rather than defended The trilemma, then, is the decision among the three equally unsatisfying options. The name ''Münchhausen-Trilemma'' was coined by the German philosopher Hans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychologism
Psychologism is a family of philosophical positions, according to which certain psychological facts, laws, or entities play a central role in grounding or explaining certain non-psychological facts, laws, or entities. The word was coined by Johann Eduard Erdmann as ''Psychologismus'', being translated into English as ''psychologism''.'' Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''Psychologism Definition The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines ''psychologism'' as: "The view or doctrine that a theory of psychology or ideas forms the basis of an account of metaphysics, epistemology, or meaning; (sometimes) spec. the explanation or derivation of mathematical or logical laws in terms of psychological facts." Psychologism in epistemology, the idea that its problems "can be solved satisfactorily by the psychological study of the development of mental processes", was argued in John Locke's ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' (1690). Other forms of psychologism are logical psychologi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinitism
Infinitism is the view that knowledge may be justified by an infinite chain of reasons. It belongs to epistemology, the branch of philosophy that considers the possibility, nature, and means of knowledge. Epistemological infinitism Since Gettier, "knowledge" is no longer widely accepted as meaning "justified true belief" only. However, some epistemologists still consider knowledge to have a justification condition. Traditional theories of justification (foundationalism and coherentism) and indeed some philosophers consider an infinite regress not to be a valid justification. In their view, if ''A'' is justified by ''B'', ''B'' by ''C'', and so forth, then either # The chain must end with a link that requires no independent justification (a foundation), # The chain must come around in a circle in some finite number of steps (the belief may be justified by its coherence), or # Our beliefs must not be justified after all (as is posited by philosophical skeptics). Infinitism, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundationalism
Foundationalism concerns philosophical theories of knowledge resting upon non-inferential justified belief, or some secure foundation of certainty such as a conclusion inferred from a basis of sound premises.Simon Blackburn, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy'', 2nd (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)p 139 The main rival of the foundationalist theory of justification is the coherence theory of justification, whereby a body of knowledge, not requiring a secure foundation, can be established by the interlocking strength of its components, like a puzzle solved without prior certainty that each small region was solved correctly. Identifying the alternatives as either circular reasoning or infinite regress, and thus exhibiting the regress problem, Aristotle made foundationalism his own clear choice, positing basic beliefs underpinning others.Ted Poston"Foundationalism"(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Descartes, the most famed foundationalist, discovered a foundation i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coherentism
In philosophical epistemology, there are two types of coherentism: the coherence theory of truth; and the coherence theory of justification (also known as epistemic coherentism). Coherent truth is divided between an anthropological approach, which applies only to localized networks ('true within a given sample of a population, given our understanding of the population'), and an approach that is judged on the basis of universals, such as categorical sets. The anthropological approach belongs more properly to the correspondence theory of truth, while the universal theories are a small development within analytic philosophy. The coherentist theory of justification, which may be interpreted as relating to either theory of coherent truth, characterizes epistemic justification as a property of a belief only if that belief is a member of a coherent set. What distinguishes coherentism from other theories of justification is that the set is the primary bearer of justification. As an epi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jakob Friedrich Fries
Jakob Friedrich Fries (; 23 August 1773 – 10 August 1843) was a German post-KantianTerry Pinkard, ''German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism'', Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 199–212. philosopher and mathematician. Biography Fries studied theology at the academy of the Moravian Brethren at Niesky and philosophy at the Universities of Leipzig and Jena. After travelling, in 1806 he became professor of philosophy and elementary mathematics at the University of Heidelberg. Though the progress of his psychological thought compelled him to abandon the positive theology of the Moravians, he retained an appreciation of its spiritual or symbolic significance. His philosophical position with regard to his contemporaries had already been made clear in his critical work ''Reinhold, Fichte und Schelling'' (1803), and in the more systematic treatises ''System der Philosophie als evidente Wissenschaft'' (1804) and ''Wissen, Glaube und Ahnung'' (1805). Fries' most importa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logic Of Scientific Discovery
''The Logic of Scientific Discovery'' is a 1959 book about the philosophy of science by the philosopher Karl Popper. Popper rewrote his book in English from the 1934 (imprint '1935') German original, titled ''Logik der Forschung. Zur Erkenntnistheorie der modernen Naturwissenschaft'', which literally translates as, "Logic of Research: On the Epistemology of Modern Natural Science"'. Summary Popper argues that science should adopt a methodology based on falsifiability, because no number of experiments can ever prove a theory, but a reproducible experiment or observation can refute one. According to Popper: "non-reproducible single occurrences are of no significance to science. Thus a few stray basic statements contradicting a theory will hardly induce us to reject it as falsified. We shall take it as falsified only if we discover a reproducible effect which refutes the theory". Popper argues that science should adopt a methodology based on "an ''asymmetry'' between verifiability a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek philosophy. His reputation is controversial among scholars because he often repeats information from his sources without critically evaluating it. He also frequently focuses on trivial or insignificant details of his subjects' lives while ignoring important details of their philosophical teachings and he sometimes fails to distinguish between earlier and later teachings of specific philosophical schools. However, unlike many other ancient secondary sources, Diogenes Laërtius generally reports philosophical teachings without attempting to reinterpret or expand on them, which means his accounts are often closer to the primary sources. Due to the loss of so many of the primary sources on whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agrippa The Skeptic
Agrippa ( el, Ἀγρίππας) was a Pyrrhonist philosopher who probably lived towards the end of the 1st century CE. He is regarded as the author of "The Five Tropes (or Modes, in el, τρόποι) of Agrippa", which are purported to establish the necessity of suspending judgment (epoché). Agrippa's arguments form the basis of the Agrippan trilemma. The five modes of Agrippa Sextus Empiricus described these "modes" or "tropes" in ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'', attributing them "to the more recent skeptics"; Diogenes Laërtius attributes them to Agrippa.Diogenes Laërtius, ix. The five modes of Agrippa (also known as the five tropes of Agrippa) are: # ''Dissent'' – The uncertainty demonstrated by the differences of opinions among philosophers and people in general. # ''Progress ad infinitum'' – All proof rests on matters themselves in need of proof, and so on to infinity, i.e, the regress argument. # ''Relation'' – All things are changed as their relations become ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus ( grc-gre, Σέξτος Ἐμπειρικός, ; ) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Pyrrhonism, Pyrrhonist philosopher and Empiric school physician. His philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman Pyrrhonism, and because of the arguments they contain against the other Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic philosophies, they are also a major source of information about those philosophies. In his medical work, as reflected by his name, tradition maintains that he belonged to the Empiric school in which Pyrrhonism was popular. However, at least twice in his writings, Sextus seems to place himself closer to the Methodic school. Little is known about Sextus Empiricus. He likely lived in Alexandria, Rome, or Athens. The ''Suda,'' a 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, states that he was the same person as Sextus of Chaeronea, as do other pre-modern sources, but this identification is commonly doubted. Writings Diogenes Laërtius ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circular Argument
Circular may refer to: * The shape of a circle * ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega * Circular letter (other) ** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement * Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy * Circular reference * Government circular, a written statement of government policy See also * Circular DNA (other) * Circular Line (other) Circle Line or circular line is an expression commonly used to describe a circle route in a public transport network or system. Circle Line or Circular line may also refer to: Railways Asia Bangladesh * Chittagong Circular Railway China ... * Circularity (other) {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mire
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types of mires share the common characteristic of being saturated with water, at least seasonally with actively forming peat, while having their own ecosystem. Like coral reefs, mires are unusual landforms that derive mostly from biological rather than physical processes, and can take on characteristic shapes and surface patterning. A quagmire is a floating (quaking) mire, bog, or any peatland being in a stage of hydrosere or hydrarch (hydroseral) succession, resulting in pond-filling yields underfoot. Ombrotrophic types of quagmire may be called quaking bog (quivering bog). Minerotrophic types can be named with the term quagfen. There are four types of mire: bog, fen, marsh and swamp. A bog is a mire that, due to its location relative to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
