A puzzle about guessing and inquiry

被引:1
|
作者
Teague, Richard [1 ]
机构
[1] Johns Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA
关键词
epistemology; questions; inquiry; propositional attitudes; rationality;
D O I
10.1093/analys/anad057
中图分类号
B [哲学、宗教];
学科分类号
01 ; 0101 ;
摘要
I discuss a puzzle that arises as an apparent tension between plausible theories of good guessing and intuitive constraints on rational inquiry. Clearly, our best guess at a question should reflect the likelihoods we assign to its possible answers. Your best guess is the answer you judge most likely. Additionally, it seems like a requirement of rational inquiry that our guesses be coherent. Thus, our best guess to a constituent (wh-) questions should cohere with our best guess to a polar (yes/no) question whenever answers to the former entail answers to the latter. I argue that these requirements are in conflict and that a familiar form of contextualism doesn't resolve the issue. The puzzle stands as a challenge to existing accounts of rational inquiry and question directed attitudes like guessing.
引用
收藏
页码:327 / 336
页数:10
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