Abstract
In his final notebooks, published as On Certainty, Wittgenstein offers a distinctive conception of the nature of reasons. Central to this conception is the idea that at the heart of our rational practices are essentially arational commitments. This proposal marks a powerful challenge to the standard picture of the structure of reasons. In particular, it has been thought that this account might offer us a resolution of the traditional scepticism/anti-scepticism debate. It is argued, however, that some standard ways of filling out the details of this proposal ultimately lead to an epistemology which is highly problematic. The goal here is to present a more compelling version of Wittgenstein’s account of the structure of reasons which can evade these difficulties.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alston W. P. (1986) Epistemic circularity. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 47: 1–30
Austin J. L. (1961). Other minds. In: J. O. Urmson, & G. J. Warnock, His philosophical papers. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Bergmann M. (2004) Epistemic circularity: Malignant and benign. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 69: 709–727
Boghossian P. (2006) Fear of knowledge: Against relativism and constructivism. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Brenner W. H., Moyal-Sharrock D. (2005) Introduction. In: Moyal-Sharrock D., Brenner W. H. (eds) Investigating on certainty: Essays on Wittgenstein’s last work. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp 1–15
Burge T. (1993) Content preservation. Philosophical Review 102: 457–488
Burge T. (2003) Perceptual entitlement. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 67: 503–548
Cohen S. (1988) How to be a fallibilist. Philosophical Perspectives 2: 91–123
Cohen S. (2000) Contextualism and skepticism. Philosophical Issues 10: 94–107
Coliva A. (2010) Moore and Wittgenstein: Scepticism, certainty and common sense. Palgrave Macmillan, London
Conant J. (1998) Wittgenstein on meaning and use. Philosophical Investigations 21: 222–250
Davies, M. (2004). Epistemic Entitlement, warrant transmission and easy knowledge. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 78 (supp. vol.), 213–245.
DeRose K. (1995) Solving the skeptical problem. Philosophical Review 104: 1–52
Dretske F. (1970) Epistemic operators. Journal of Philosophy 67: 1007–1023
Dretske F. (1971) Conclusive reasons. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 49: 1–22
Dretske F. (2005a) The case against closure. In: Sosa E., Steup M. (eds) Contemporary debates in epistemology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 13–26
Dretske F. (2005b) Reply to Hawthorne. In: Sosa E., Steup M. (eds) Contemporary debates in epistemology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 43–46
Goldman A. (1986) Epistemology and cognition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Goldman, A. (2008). Reliabilism. In E. Zalta (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reliabilism/.
Hawthorne J. (2005) The case for closure. In: Sosa E., Steup M. (eds) Contemporary debates in epistemology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 26–43
Jenkins C. (2007) Entitlement and rationality. Synthese 157: 25–45
Lewis D. (1996) Elusive knowledge. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 74: 549–567
Lynch M. P. (2010) Epistemic circularity and epistemic disagreement. In: Haddock A., Millar A., Pritchard D. H. (eds) Social epistemology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 262–277
McGinn M. (1989) Sense and certainty: A dissolution of scepticism. Blackwell, Oxford
McGinn M. (2010) Ludwig Wittgenstein. In: Neta R., Pritchard D. H. (eds) The Routledge companion to epistemology. Routledge, London, pp 763–773
Moore, G. E. (1925). A defence of common sense. In J. H. Muirhead (Ed.), Contemporary British philosophy (2nd series). London: Allen and Unwin.
Moore, G. E. (1939). Proof of an external world Proceedings of the British Academy, 25, 273–300.
Moyal-Sharrock D. (2004) Understanding Wittgenstein’s on certainty. Palgrave Macmillan, London
Neta R. (2007) In defence of epistemic relativism. Episteme 4: 30–48
Nozick R. (1981) Philosophical explanations. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Peacocke C. (2003) The realm of reason. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Pedersen N. J. (2009) Entitlement, value and rationality. Synthese 171: 443–457
Pritchard, D. H. (2001). Radical scepticism, epistemological externalism, and “Hinge” propositions. In D. Salehi (Ed.), Wittgenstein-Jahrbuch 2001/2002 (pp. 97–122). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Pritchard D. H. (2002a) Recent work on radical skepticism. American Philosophical Quarterly 39: 215–257
Pritchard D. H. (2002b) Two forms of epistemological contextualism. Grazer Philosophische Studien 64: 19–55
Pritchard D. H. (2005a) Epistemic luck. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Pritchard D. H. (2005b) Wittgenstein’s on certainty and contemporary anti-scepticism. In: Moyal-Sharrock D., Brenner W. H. (eds) Investigating on certainty: Essays on Wittgenstein’s last work. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp 189–224
Pritchard D. H. (2007) Anti-luck epistemology. Synthese 158: 277–297
Pritchard D. H. (2009) Defusing epistemic relativism. Synthese 166: 397–412
Pritchard D. H. (2010) Epistemic relativism, epistemic incommensurability and Wittgensteinian epistemology. In: Hales S. (ed.) The Blackwell companion to relativism. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 266–285
Pritchard D. H. (2011a) Wittgensteinian quasi-fideism. Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion 4: 145–159
Pritchard D. H. (2011b) Wittgenstein on scepticism. In: Kuusela O., McGinn M. (eds) The Oxford handbook on Wittgenstein. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 521–547
Pritchard, D. H. (Forthcoming a). Anti-luck virtue epistemology. Journal of Philosophy.
Pritchard, D. H. (Forthcoming b). Entitlement and the groundlessness of our believing. In P. Graham & N. Pedersen (Eds.), New essays on entitlement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pritchard, D. H. (Forthcoming c). There cannot be lucky knowledge. In M. Steup & J. Turri (Eds.), Contemporary debates in epistemology (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Sosa E. (1997) Reflective knowledge in the best circles. Journal of Philosophy 94: 410–430
Strawson P. F. (1985) Skepticism and naturalism: Some varieties. Methuen, London
Stroud B. (1984) The significance of philosophical scepticism. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Williams M. (1991) Unnatural doubts: Epistemological realism and the basis of scepticism. Blackwell, Oxford
Williams M. (2004) Wittgenstein’s refutation of idealism. In: McManus D. (ed.) Wittgenstein and Scepticism. Routledge, London, pp 56–68
Williams M. (2007) Why (Wittgensteinian) contextualism is not relativism. Episteme 4: 93–114
Williamson T. (2000) Knowledge and its limits. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Wittgenstein, L. (1969). On Certainty, In G. E. M. Anscombe & G. H. von Wright (Eds.), (trans: D. Paul & G. E. M. Anscombe). Oxford: Blackwell.
Wright, C. J. G. (2004). Warrant for nothing (and foundations for free)? Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 78 (suppl. vol.), 167–212.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pritchard, D. Wittgenstein and the groundlessness of our believing. Synthese 189, 255–272 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-011-0057-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-011-0057-8