doiSerbia

One example of epistemological idealization

Nedeljković Adam (Univerzitet u Beogradu, Filozofski fakultet, Institut za filozofiju)

In different branches of science we find idealizations. In physics we find frictionless surfaces, point-particles of molecules that don’t exert force on one another, in game theory we find fully rational agents who are aware of all of their preferences, and in biology we find infinite populations which do not migrate, and which do not suffer any sort of evolutionary pressure. It seems to us that similar idealizations can be found in epistemology. To be more specific, we mean the models of probabilistic coherentism. Exactly like scientific idealizations which disregard certain very real factors, because their goal is to shed light on the connections between important scientific concepts, this model of probabilistic coherence idealizes concepts of reliability of information sources and independence to show the connection between coherence and reliability.

Keywords: coherence, reliability, independence, idealization, experiential testimony