tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post8066930841424145118..comments2024-03-17T00:23:24.896-07:00Comments on Social Democracy for the 21st Century: A Realist Alternative to the Modern Left: A Bibliography on Inference to the Best ExplanationLord Keyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-83965006769613723562014-03-05T17:57:21.317-08:002014-03-05T17:57:21.317-08:00"Curiously, the most prominent critics of inf..."Curiously, the most prominent critics of inference to the best explanation are anti-realists"<br /><br />It can also be said, "Curiously, the most prominent proponents of inference to the best explanation are realists." :)<br /><br />The question is the criterion of "best," which is normative. Criteria are determined logically by the system in which the are embedded and which they serve to bound. There are no absolute criteria other than in dogmatisms.<br /><br />What the facts seem to show are that those with different dispositions see the same things differently and that there are no overarching criteria for mounting a compelling argument that gains universal assent.<br /><br />Does this argue for epistemological relativism? Or is this shown by the disagreement. Or are some people more rationally capable or insightful than others. By what absolute standard could this be decided?<br /><br />Is there anything to the Wittgensteinian view that arguing such matters is a futile attempt to push the logic of language beyond its limit? Again, the issue of criteria rears up.<br /><br />This is not a good ending of the story for those who see indecisiveness as implying skepticism or relativism, but those who see it as agnosticism are comfortable admitting the limits of human knowledge at least at present.<br /><br />Is there a gnosticism, as has been claimed, that can penetrate the veil of phenomenal appearances through non-ordinary cognition. Those that claim to have experienced this assert it to be so, and some of them also assert that if others follow the prescribed course, at least some will find the landmarks of the way unfolding in their own experience as corroboration. <br /><br />Contemporary studies in transpersonal psych and consciousness studies seem to support such claims, based on physiological correlates, for example. But do such correlates actually prove the claims beyond the reported cognitive-affective phenomena. This is controversial since there is no way to observe another's experience directly, and the epistemic claims cannot be directly tested for ontological content through observation.Tom Hickeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08454222098667643650noreply@blogger.com