Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:17:17.737Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Arbitrariness Objection Against Permissivism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2019

Ru Ye Open the ORCID record for Ru Ye [Opens in a new window]
Ru Ye*
Affiliation:
Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
*
*Email: ruye08@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The debate between Uniqueness and Permissivism concerns whether a body of evidence sometimes allows multiple doxastic attitudes towards a proposition. An important motivation for Uniqueness is the so-called ‘arbitrariness argument,’ which says that Permissivism leads to some unacceptable arbitrariness with regard to one's beliefs. An influential response to the argument says that the arbitrariness in beliefs can be avoided by invoking epistemic standards. In this paper, I argue that such a response to the arbitrariness argument is unsuccessful. Then I defend a new response: contrary to common conception, the arbitrariness resulted by Permissivism is acceptable. The basic idea is that the arbitrariness resulted by Permissivism is analogous to the arbitrariness in permissive actions and the latter arbitrariness is intuitively acceptable. I answer three possible objections against this analogy, which are all motivated by the thought that beliefs aim at the truth. In addressing the last objection, I draw inspiration from the recent debate on transformative experience.

Keywords

Permissivismepistemic rationalityepistemic standards
Type
Article
Information
Episteme , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 654 - 673
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alston, W.P. (1986) ‘Epistemic Circularity.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 47(1), 1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballantyne, N. and Coffman, E.J. (2011) ‘Uniqueness, Evidence, and Rationality.’ Philosophers’ Imprint, 11.Google Scholar
Ballantyne, N. and Coffman, E.J. (2012) ‘Conciliationism and Uniqueness.’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy 90(4), 657–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergmann, M. (2004) ‘Epistemic Circularity: Malignant and Benign.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 69(3), 709–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brueckner, A. and Bundy, A. (2012) ‘On “Epistemic Permissiveness”.’ Synthese 188(2), 165–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, D. (2016) ‘Conciliation, Uniqueness and Rational Toxicity.’ Noûs 50(3), 584–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comesaña, J. (2010) ‘Evidentialist Reliabilism.’ Noûs 44(4), 571–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dogramaci, S. and Horowitz, S. (2016) ‘An Argument for Uniqueness About Evidential Support.’ Philosophical Issues 26(1), 130–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douven, I. (2009) ‘Uniqueness Revisited.’ American Philosophical Quarterly 46, 347–61.Google Scholar
Feldman, R. (2007) ‘Reasonable Religious Disagreements.’ In Antony, L. (ed.), Philosophers Without Gods, pp. 194–214. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Greaves, H. and Wallace, D. (2006) ‘Justifying Conditionalization: Conditionalization Maximizes Expected Epistemic Utility.’ Mind 115(459), 607–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greco, D. and Hedden, B. (2016) ‘Uniqueness and Metaepistemology.’ Journal of Philosophy 113(8), 365–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, S. (2014) ‘Immoderately Rational.’ Philosophical Studies 167(1), 41–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, E. (Forthcoming) ‘A Defense of Intrapersonal Belief Permissivism.’ Episteme.Google Scholar
Kelly, T. (2010) ‘Peer Disagreement and Higher Order Evidence.’ In Feldman, R. and Warfield, T. (eds), Disagreement, pp. 111–74. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, T. (2014) ‘Evidence Can Be Permissive.’ In Steup, M., Turri, J. and Sosa, E. (eds), Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, 2nd edition, pp. 298–312. Chichester: Wiley–Blackwell.Google Scholar
Levinstein, B.A. (2017) ‘Permissive Rationality and Sensitivity.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 94(2), 342–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meacham, C.J.G. (2014) ‘Impermissive Bayesianism.’ Erkenntnis 79, 1185–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meacham, C.J.G. (2016) ‘Ur-priors, Conditionalization, and Ur-prior Conditionalization.’ Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy, 3.Google Scholar
Meacham, C.J.G. (2019) ‘Deference and Uniqueness.’ Philosophical Studies 176(3), 709–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, L.A. (2014) Transformative Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, L.A. (2015) ‘What You Can't Expect When You're Expecting.’ Res Philosophica 92(2), 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettigrew, R. (2015) ‘Transformative Experience and Decision Theory.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 91(3), 766–774.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podgorski, A. (2016) ‘Dynamic Permissivism.’ Philosophical Studies 173(7), 1923–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosen, G. (2001) ‘Nominalism, Naturalism, Epistemic Relativism.’ Philosophical Perspectives 15, 69–91.Google Scholar
Schoenfield, M. (2014) ‘Permission to Believe: Why Permissivism is True and What it Tells Us about Irrelevant Influences on Belief.’ Noûs 48(2), 193–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoenfield, M. (Forthcoming) ‘Meditations on Beliefs Formed Arbitrarily.’ Oxford Studies in Epistemology. http://www.miriamschoenfield.com/F/meditations-on-beliefs-2.pdf.Google Scholar
Schultheis, G. (2018) ‘Living on the Edge: Against Epistemic Permissivism.’ Mind 127(507), 863–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, R.M. (2017) ‘Permissivism and the Arbitrariness Objection.’ Episteme 14(4), 519–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinberger, F. (Forthcoming) ‘Accuracy and Epistemic Conservatism.’ Analysis.Google Scholar
Thorstad, D. (Forthcoming) ‘Permissive Metaepistemology.’ Mind.Google Scholar
Titelbaum, M.G. (Forthcoming) Fundamentals of Bayesian Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Titelbaum, M. and Kopec, M. (Forthcoming) ‘When Rational Reasoners Reason Differently.’ In Balcerak-Jackson, M. and Balcerak-Jackson, B. (eds), Reasoning: Essays on Theoretical and Practical Thinking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vavova, K. (2018) ‘Irrelevant Influences.’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 96(1), 134–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, R. (2005) ‘Epistemic Permissiveness.’ Philosophical Perspectives 19(1), 445–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, R. (2014) ‘Evidence Cannot Be Permissive.’ In Steup, M., Turri, J. and Sosa, E. (eds), Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, 2nd edition, pp. 312–23. Chichester: Wiley–Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wright, C. (2004) ‘Wittgensteinian Certainties.’ In McManus, D. (ed.), Wittgenstein and Scepticism, pp. 22–55. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar