Hume’s Radical Scepticism and the Fate of Naturalized Epistemology PDF
Preview Hume’s Radical Scepticism and the Fate of Naturalized Epistemology
Hume’s Radical Scepticism and the Fate of Naturalized Epistemology Palgrave Innovations in Philosophy Series Editors: Vincent F. Hendricks, University of Copenhagen and Columbia University in New York and Duncan Pritchard, University of Edinburgh. Titles include: Kevin Meeker HUME’S RADICAL SCEPTICISM AND THE FATE OF NATURALIZED EPISTEMOLOGY Forthcoming titles: E. J. Coffman LUCK: ITS NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE FOR HUMAN KNOWLEDGE AND AGENCY Annalisa Coliva THE VARIETIES OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE Mikkel Gerken EPISTEMIC REASONING AND THE MENTAL Aidan McGlynn KNOWLEDGE FIRST? Ted Poston REASON AND EXPLANATION: A DEFENSE OF EXPLANATORY COHERENTISM John Turri THE KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNT OF ASSERTION Palgrave Innovations in Philosophy Series Standing Order ISBN 978–0–230–36085–3 (hardback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Hume’s Radical Scepticism and the Fate of Naturalized Epistemology Kevin Meeker University of South Alabama, USA © Kevin Meeker 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-02554-8 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-43895-2 ISBN 978-1-137-02555-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137025555 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 In memory of Phil Quinn This page intentionally left blank Contents Series Editors’ Preface ix Preface x Acknowledgements xii Note on References and Abbreviations xiii 1 A Tale of Two Interpretations 1 I. The rise of the naturalized interpretation 1 II. Issues in interpretation 4 III. Philosophy and its history 9 IV. Scepticism, naturalism and the shape of things to come 14 2 Fallibility Gains a Foothold: A Model for Understanding Humean Scepticism 25 I. Knowledge, certainty and doubt 26 II. Certainty lost 28 III. Fallibility, probability and scepticism 32 IV. Knowledge, belief and the analytic/synthetic controversy 35 3 Fallibility’s Ultimate Epistemic Consequence 43 I. Fallibility and the extinction of evidence 44 II. Evidence, evidentness and evidential grounds 50 III. The reductio strategy 55 IV. Reductio redux: a pernicious premise 57 4 Belief without Evidence 65 I. Epistemology sentimentalized 66 II. The controversial conclusion 70 III. Pragmatism, scepticism and belief 73 IV. The title principle as an epistemic principle 77 V. Hume’s causal rules to the rescue? 81 VI. A textual challenge 84 5 Endorsing Epistemic Egalitarianism 87 I. Continuity regained 88 II. The radically sceptical nature of “moderate” antecedent scepticism 91 vii viii Contents III. The Pyrrhonian bridge and a unified picture of Hume’s scepticism 96 6 Scepticism and the “Nature” of Naturalized Epistemology 104 I. Materialism, physicalism, naturalism and naturalized epistemology 105 II. Hempel’s dilemma naturalized, Humean style 107 III. Naturalized epistemology as an attitude 113 IV. Naturalized epistemology, scepticism and psychology/cognitive science 116 7 Hume’s Naturalistic Internalism 122 I. Hume’s internalism: a first look 122 II. The externalist temptation 124 III. Proper functionalism and causal inferences 128 IV. Causal inferences and counterfactual claims 133 8 Philosophy after Scepticism 139 I. The statement of a sceptical position 140 II. All goes not well within: the sceptical threat of epistemic disagreement 146 III. From naturalized epistemology to naturalized presumptivism: a vindication of Hume’s positive project? 150 IV. Where are we? 153 Notes 157 Bibliography 180 Index 191 Series Editors’ Preface Palgrave Innovations in Philosophy is a series of short monographs. Each will constitute an element of the ‘new wave’ of pure or applied philos- ophy, in terms of both its topic and the research angle, and overall the series will be concerned with ‘hot’ new research areas in philosophy and its neighbouring intellectual disciplines. Each monograph will provide an overview of an emerging area; at the same time it will significantly advance the debate in its area and give the reader a sense of where this debate might be heading. While the series will devote attention to core topics of philosophy, its books will also feature an interdisciplinary outlook, as we believe that many of the most exciting developments in our discipline involve a fusion of philosophy with other subjects. Vincent Hendricks, Copenhagen Duncan Pritchard, Edinburgh ix
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