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In defense of the epistemic imperative

Seungbae Park

pp. 435-446

Abstract

Sample (Philos Sci 82(5):856–866, 2015) argues that scientists ought not to believe that their theories are true because they cannot fulfill the epistemic obligation to take the diachronic perspective on their theories. I reply that Sample's argument imposes an inordinately heavy epistemic obligation on scientists, and that it spells doom not only for scientific theories but also for observational beliefs and philosophical ideas that Samples endorses. I also delineate what I take to be a reasonable epistemic obligation for scientists. In sum, philosophers ought to impose on scientists only an epistemic standard that they are willing to impose on themselves.

Publication details

Published in:

(2018) Axiomathes 28 (4).

Pages: 435-446

DOI: 10.1007/s10516-018-9371-9

Full citation:

Park Seungbae (2018) „In defense of the epistemic imperative“. Axiomathes 28 (4), 435–446.