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  • Book
  • Open Access
  • © 2017

Fading Foundations

Probability and the Regress Problem

Authors:

  1. David Atkinson

    1. University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

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  2. Jeanne Peijnenburg

    1. University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

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  • This is an Open Access publication and the content is freely downloadable Sets out a potentially transformative, probabilistic approach to infinite regresses

  • Cogent critical analysis of current limitations in infinitist methodology

  • Core thematic focus on epistemology

Part of the book series: Synthese Library (SYLI, volume 383)

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Softcover Book USD 59.99
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Hardcover Book USD 59.99
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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    PDF

  2. The Regress Problem

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 1-24Open Access

  3. Epistemic Justification

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 25-58Open Access

  4. The Probabilistic Regress

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 59-82Open Access

  5. Fading Foundations and the Emergence of Justification

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 83-100Open Access

  6. Finite Minds

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 101-117Open Access

  7. Conceptual Objections

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 119-142Open Access

  8. Higher-Order Probabilities

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 143-165Open Access

  9. Loops and Networks

    • David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg
    Pages 167-190Open Access

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 191-238
    PDF
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About this book

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.
This book addresses the age-old problem of infinite regresses in epistemology. How can we ever come to know something if knowing requires having good reasons, and reasons can only be good if they are backed by good reasons in turn? The problem has puzzled philosophers ever since antiquity, giving rise to what is often called Agrippa's Trilemma. The current volume approaches the old problem in a provocative and thoroughly contemporary way. Taking seriously the idea that good reasons are typically probabilistic in character, it develops and defends a new solution that challenges venerable philosophical intuitions and explains why they were mistakenly held. Key to the new solution is the phenomenon of fading foundations, according to which distant reasons are less important than those that are nearby. The phenomenon takes the sting out of Agrippa's Trilemma; moreover, since the theory that describes it is general and abstract, it is readily applicable outside epistemology, notably to debates on infinite regresses in metaphysics. The book is a potential game-changer and a must for any advanced student or researcher in the field.
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Keywords

  • Epistemic Justification
  • Infinite Regress
  • Regresses in Epistemology
  • Regresses in Ethics
  • Regresses in Metaphysics
  • Regresses in Philosophy of Mind
  • Open Access
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Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    David Atkinson, Jeanne Peijnenburg

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Bibliographic Information

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Softcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions