L. Bonjour | Библиотека ELiS

Explanation as meta-justification.

Submitted by Гость (not verified) on Tue, 09/09/2025 - 23:08

The paper aims to show that some elements of J. Woodward’s manipulative concept of causality are capable of playing the role of «salient characteristics of an explanation» that can be associated with the key characteristics of meta-justification that «a system of empirical beliefs that is justified according to accepted standards is thus likely to correspond to reality» in a situation where an appeal to more traditional concepts of explanation – unificationist (P. Kitcher) or causal (W. Salmon) – is not accepted due to the «paradigm conflict» dividing the given scientific community.

Meta-justification, and necessity to reflect objective reality. Book Review: BonJour L. The Structure of Empirical Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985. (Chapters 7–8)

Submitted by Гость (not verified) on Wed, 03/12/2025 - 23:38

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Coherentism is the only proper account of justification of empirical knowledge. The final representation of Lawrence Bonjour’s coherentist conception of justification includes such theses as: (a) Justification is a function of coherence and depends on the fact that the system of beliefs is not only coherent at the moment, but remains coherent over a sufficiently long period of time, facing continuous input to its content due to the influence of reality.

Cognitive Spontaneous Beliefs, and Reliability within the System. Book Review: BonJour L. The Structure of Empirical Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985. (Chapters 5–6)

Submitted by Гость (not verified) on Sat, 11/23/2024 - 18:38

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The key point of Laurence BonJour’s coherentist conception of the justification of empirical knowledge is the coherentist concept of observation, which (a) postulates that there is a special class of cognitively spontaneous beliefs with which the system’s beliefs must cohere in order to be considered justified; (b) their reliability is determined within the system as a consequence of our generalization on a set of facts when a belief appears, and it is highly likely to be true, and it is likely to appear in a situation in which it will be true; and (c) the subject has the ability to reflexi

Regress Problem and the Critique of Empirical Foundationalism Book Review: BonJour L. The Structure of Empirical Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985. (Part I).

Submitted by Гость (not verified) on Thu, 10/10/2024 - 16:38

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Laurence Bonjour believes that foundationalism is a dead end. Literally all possible reasons for basic beliefs have been analyzed – externalism, the doctrine of the given, and a priori justification. Externalism, where the basic factors of justification are tied up to the causal or nomological in nature relations between the subject and the world, cannot overcome skepticism and is the way for accepting belief as basic only for those who are aware of these relations.

Thucydides and L. Bonjour: spontaneous beliefs and the structure of justification restricted to a single source of evidence

Submitted by Гость (not verified) on Thu, 09/05/2024 - 00:19

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The paper aims to show how in practice the requirement to maintain the coherence of the system of beliefs and the corresponding behavior of «spontaneous beliefs» within the concept of empirical knowledge by L. Bonjour can be correlated. The main example considered is P. Kosso’s arguments about the reliability of Thucydides’ «History» connected with the idea of possibility of justification restricted to a single source of evidence.