4. Pragmatism and Reasons for Belief

Author: Harman, Gilbert

Source: Reasoning, Meaning, and Mind, July 1999 , pp. 93-117(25)

Publisher: Oxford Scholarship Online Monographs

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Abstract:

Discusses how to explain the distinction between epistemic and non-epistemic reasons while allowing epistemic reasons to be affected by pragmatic considerations of simplicity, coherence, and conservatism. After noting difficulties with trying to explain epistemic reasons in terms of connections with truth or the goal of believing what is true, the chapter discusses issues about the nature of probability, suggesting that epistemic reasons connect with conditional probability in a way that non-epistemic reasons do not.

Keywords: reasons; epistemic reasons; coherence; probability; pragmatism; conservatism; simplicity

Document Type: Research article

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