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Single Idea 2247

[filed under theme 13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 4. Foundationalism / a. Foundationalism ]

Full Idea

Once in my life I had to raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations, if I wanted to establish anything firm and lasting in the sciences.

Gist of Idea

To achieve good science we must rebuild from the foundations

Source

René Descartes (Meditations [1641], §1.17)

Book Ref

Descartes,René: 'Discourse on Method/The Meditations', ed/tr. Sutcliffe,F.E. [Penguin 1968], p.95

A Reaction

This sentence is the beginning of the Enlightenment. The project of proving absolutely everything, and in a foundational way, is now met with much scepticism. I will never abandon the project!

The 16 ideas with the same theme [claim that knowledge foundations are possible]:

2081 Maybe primary elements can be named, but not receive a rational account [Plato]
24021 The method starts with clear intuitions, followed by a process of deduction [Descartes]
3606 I was searching for reliable rock under the shifting sand [Descartes]
2247 To achieve good science we must rebuild from the foundations [Descartes]
2255 Only one certainty is needed for progress (like a lever's fulcrum) [Descartes]
5033 Nothing should be taken as certain without foundations [Leibniz]
6556 If anything is to be probable, then something must be certain [Lewis,CI]
3597 Foundations need not precede other beliefs [Wittgenstein]
8790 The 'doctrine of the given' is correct; some beliefs or statements are self-justifying [Chisholm]
8841 Modern foundationalists say basic beliefs are fallible, and coherence is relevant [Cleve]
4255 Externalist theories of knowledge are one species of foundationalism [Bonjour]
2752 Foundationalism requires inferential and non-inferential justification [Dancy,J]
2771 Foundationalists must accept not only the basic beliefs, but also rules of inference for further progress [Dancy,J]
8849 Traditional foundationalism is radically internalist [Williams,M]
3753 Foundationalism aims to avoid an infinite regress [Bernecker/Dretske]
19678 Strong foundationalism needs strict inferences; weak version has induction, explanation, probability [Kvanvig]