Dissertation
Abstract
Charles S. Peirce's
Universal Fallibilism
by
Elizabeth Frances Maurya
Cooke
Degree: Ph.D.
Year: 2000
Pages: 276
Institution:
Advisor: Richard J. Blackwell
Source: DAI, 61, no. 05A (2000): p. 1873
Standard
No: ISBN: 0-599-78630-2
Fallibilism is the thesis that all human knowledge
lies between the extremes of skepticism and dogmatism. Fallibilism is a
qualification put on truth claims. Any claim to truth takes the form, "I
believe that "x" but I could be wrong about "x.""
Scientific claims are considered fallible because the same method that produces
scientific beliefs can also produce falsifying evidence against them in the
future. Peirce's fallibilism is more controversial, however, because it is
universal, extending to
all truth claims. All knowledge claims, including metaphysical,
methodological, introspective, and even mathematical claims, remain uncertain
and provisional.
Our approach involves an
examination of Peirce's arguments for fallibilism, the overall scope of his
fallibilism, and his conception of scientific progress. We consider whether
Peirce's or any universal fallibilism can be maintained consistently. We argue
that a universal fallibilism can be maintained, but only if the view of
knowledge is reconceived as evolutionary. Such a view of knowledge is to be
found in Peirce's theory of the evolutionary continuum of time, or what Peirce
calls “synechism”. According to this theory, everything in nature, including
human knowledge, evolves. This view
embraces ontological and epistemological indeterminacy, the openness of the
future, and the dynamic nature of the present. Order is increasing in the
universe, while indeterminacy is decreasing. A consequence of synechism is that
knowledge claims must always be said to contain an element of indeterminacy and
uncertainty. Knowledge must always remain provisional and fallible. But with
the passage of time, our methods and concepts will continue to evolve, becoming
more orderly and reliable, and the indeterminacy of knowledge will decrease
proportionately. Fallibilism, thus conceived, applies universally to all fields
of knowledge, but its force on our truth claims fades into the future as the
structure of knowledge evolves.
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: PHILOSOPHY
Accession
No: AAI9973329
Provider: OCLC
Database: Dissertations