Questions tagged [foundationalism]
The foundationalism tag has no usage guidance.
34
questions
2
votes
3
answers
117
views
Does set-theoretic pluralism, about axiom systems, inevitably become an invitation to non-axiomatic systems of set theory?
Per Hamkins[[11][12]] (see also his [22]), if no individual axiom is too sacred to be denied in some possible world,Q and so if no collection of such axioms is so sacred either, yet then:
The ...
4
votes
4
answers
749
views
Can the PSR be true for everything except the universe?
There is something called the principle of sufficient reason: everything happens for a reason. I believe that everything happens for a reason because inductively, that has been the case every time. It ...
3
votes
2
answers
169
views
What does it mean for something to “break” infinite regress?
When it comes to the cosmological argument, proponents point out that a first cause is needed to stop an infinite regress of causes.
In epistemology, foundationalism is used to break the infinite ...
2
votes
3
answers
597
views
What are the most rational basic beliefs?
I understand that this question might be difficult or even unresolved. But within a foundationalist view of knowledge, has anyone proposed a set of basic beliefs that seem to be the most rational for ...
1
vote
0
answers
41
views
The knowability principle and the regress-theoretic epistemic types
The generic knowability principle is that if t is some truth, then it is possible for t to be known: t → ◊Kt. If foundationalism, coherentism, infinitism, and their combinations are taken as epistemic ...
5
votes
2
answers
203
views
How many variations on graph-theoretic/related parameters indicate alternatives to foundationalism/coherentism/infinitism?
The set theory I'm trying to work in right now is geared towards applying an "axiom of multifoundation" whose local maximum representation is:
The interpretation of the elementhood glyphs ...
1
vote
2
answers
109
views
Are beliefs like "I am in pain" really incorrigible and basic?
I am reading about epistemology and foundationalism and I see this claim that beliefs about your own inner mental states are incorrigible and basic. But is that really so? For someone to believe the ...
2
votes
1
answer
168
views
Basic truths as self-justified or parajustified
Some foundationalists maintain that basic truths are self-justifying, which means they are allowing, in some exceptional cases at least, a form of circular reasoning; petitio principii or begging the ...
10
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Is the Münchhausen trilemma really a trilemma?
It claims there are three options of which none of them are satisfying.
Circular argument doesn't prove anything because it's just when the premise is the same as the conclusion.
x ∵ x
Infinite ...
3
votes
3
answers
98
views
Descartes' foundationalism [closed]
Is the cogito an axiom from which we can reason axioms of mathematics? Was Descartes' aim to make mathematics (and other fields of knowledge) reducible to the cogito?
0
votes
0
answers
65
views
Is category theory an example of foundherentism?
After reading this essay about the history of type theory, I have refined my assessment of the set- vs. type-theory question in two ways. More similarly to what I was thinking before, I still ground ...
1
vote
2
answers
152
views
Are universal skepticism and foundationalism at odds?
As I understand it, universal skepticism says that everything is uncertain. For example, you can't even say that you are sure that 1=1 because it depends upon your notion of equality. There are no ...
2
votes
1
answer
148
views
Second-order skepticism
Let "kS" = "It is known that S." Then kkS or k2S is a common hypothesis in epistemic logic (the full hypothesis can be stated as kS → k2S). So a second-order skeptic [SOS] at least ...
4
votes
5
answers
613
views
Defending the Unpopular: Foundationalism
Foundationalism, once considered a valid and popular philosophy, now receives nearly universal contempt. There seems to be a consensus, in both analytic and continental camps, it is dead.
Are there ...
1
vote
1
answer
208
views
A "paradox" of coherentism?
This is a follow-up to a question I had about foundationalism, which seems paradoxical inasmuch as it is a thesis that has been argued for (perhaps it is just the historical argumentation that is ...