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Defining the method of reflective equilibrium

Schmidt, Michael W. ORCID iD icon 1
1 Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse (ITAS), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

The method of reflective equilibrium (MRE) is a method of justification popularized by John Rawls and further developed by Norman Daniels, Michael DePaul, Folke Tersman, and Catherine Z. Elgin, among others. The basic idea is that epistemic agents have justified beliefs if they have succeeded in forming their beliefs into a harmonious system of beliefs which they reflectively judge to be the most plausible. Despite the common reference to MRE as a method, its mechanisms or rules are typically expressed in a metaphorical or simplified manner and are therefore criticized as too vague. Recent efforts to counter this criticism have been directed towards the attempt to provide formal explications of MRE. This paper aims to supplement these efforts by providing an informal working definition of MRE. This approach challenges the view that MRE can adequately be characterized only in the negative as a set of anti-essentialisms. I argue that epistemic agents follow MRE iff they follow four interconnected rules, which are concerned with a minimalistic form of foundationalism, a minimalistic form of fallibilism, a moderate form of holism, and a minimalistic form of rationality. ... mehr


Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000171049
Veröffentlicht am 04.06.2024
Originalveröffentlichung
DOI: 10.1007/s11229-024-04571-6
Scopus
Zitationen: 1
Web of Science
Zitationen: 1
Dimensions
Zitationen: 1
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse (ITAS)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsmonat/-jahr 05.2024
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 0039-7857, 1573-0964
KITopen-ID: 1000171049
HGF-Programm 37.11.02 (POF IV, LK 01) Societally-Feasible Transformation Pathways
Erschienen in Synthese
Verlag Springer
Band 203
Heft 5
Seiten Art.-Nr.: 170
Vorab online veröffentlicht am 13.05.2024
Schlagwörter Justification, Methodology, Plausibility, Holism, Fallibilism, Rationality
Nachgewiesen in Dimensions
Web of Science
Scopus
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