A Puzzle about Normativity
In this paper, I present a possible solution to the puzzle unveiled by Kornblith (2012) about the sources and the possibility of knowledge of epistemic norms. The puzzle is: if such norms cannot be discovered solely by reflection (“looking inwards”, thinking about first-order thoughts), and if ther...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology |
| Online Access: | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/35050 |
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| author | Giovanni Rolla |
| author_facet | Giovanni Rolla |
| author_sort | Giovanni Rolla |
| collection | DOAJ |
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In this paper, I present a possible solution to the puzzle unveiled by Kornblith (2012) about the sources and the possibility of knowledge of epistemic norms. The puzzle is: if such norms cannot be discovered solely by reflection (“looking inwards”, thinking about first-order thoughts), and if there are correct ways of thinking and inferring, then such norms can only be discovered by investigating the world (“looking outwards”) —a counterintuitive conclusion. To avoid skepticism about normativity, I argue that we create normative correctness and discover normative demands by investigating the world and reflecting about our epistemic practices. This is done by an exposition of the method known as reflective equilibrium, which is defended against Kornblith’s thesis that the appeal to reflective equilibrium is doomed to failure because it implies reflection.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9ebdf0aee6494166ac26a6822846aada |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1808-1711 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology |
| spelling | doaj-art-9ebdf0aee6494166ac26a6822846aada2025-08-20T03:42:10ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaPrincipia: An International Journal of Epistemology1808-17112014-12-0118310.5007/1808-1711.2014v18n3p32323808A Puzzle about NormativityGiovanni Rolla0Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul In this paper, I present a possible solution to the puzzle unveiled by Kornblith (2012) about the sources and the possibility of knowledge of epistemic norms. The puzzle is: if such norms cannot be discovered solely by reflection (“looking inwards”, thinking about first-order thoughts), and if there are correct ways of thinking and inferring, then such norms can only be discovered by investigating the world (“looking outwards”) —a counterintuitive conclusion. To avoid skepticism about normativity, I argue that we create normative correctness and discover normative demands by investigating the world and reflecting about our epistemic practices. This is done by an exposition of the method known as reflective equilibrium, which is defended against Kornblith’s thesis that the appeal to reflective equilibrium is doomed to failure because it implies reflection. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/35050 |
| spellingShingle | Giovanni Rolla A Puzzle about Normativity Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology |
| title | A Puzzle about Normativity |
| title_full | A Puzzle about Normativity |
| title_fullStr | A Puzzle about Normativity |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Puzzle about Normativity |
| title_short | A Puzzle about Normativity |
| title_sort | puzzle about normativity |
| url | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/35050 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giovannirolla apuzzleaboutnormativity AT giovannirolla puzzleaboutnormativity |