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Future Paths of Phenomenology

1st OPHEN Summer Meeting

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A neo-pyrrhonian response to the disagreeing about disagreement argument

Diego Machuca

pp. 1663-1680

Abstract

An objection that has been raised to the conciliatory stance on the epistemic significance of peer disagreement known as the Equal Weight View is that it is self-defeating, self-undermining, or self-refuting. The proponent of that view claims that equal weight should be given to all the parties to a peer dispute. Hence, if one of his epistemic peers defends the opposite view, he is required to give equal weight to the two rival views, thereby undermining his confidence in the correctness of the Equal Weight View. It seems that the same objection could be leveled against those who claim to suspend judgment in the face of pervasive unresolvable disagreements, as do the Pyrrhonian skeptics. In this paper, I explore the kind of response to the objection that could be offered from a neo-Pyrrhonian perspective, with the aim of better understanding the intriguing character of Pyrrhonian skepticism.

Publication details

Published in:

Dutant Julien, Fassio Davide, Meylan Anne (2017) Truth & epistemic norms. Synthese 194 (5).

Pages: 1663-1680

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-015-1012-x

Full citation:

Machuca Diego (2017) „A neo-pyrrhonian response to the disagreeing about disagreement argument“. Synthese 194 (5), 1663–1680.