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Single Idea 6954
[filed under theme 2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 6. Coherence
]
Full Idea
A set of unrelated beliefs seems less coherent than a tightly organized conceptual scheme that contains explanatory principles that make sense of most of your beliefs; this is why inference to the best explanation is an attractive pattern of inference.
Gist of Idea
A coherent conceptual scheme contains best explanations of most of your beliefs
Source
Gilbert Harman (Rationality [1995], 1.5.2)
Book Ref
Harman,Gilbert: 'Reasoning Meaning and Mind' [OUP 1999], p.33
A Reaction
I find this a very appealing proposal. The central aim of rational thought seems to me to be best explanation, and I increasingly think that most of my beliefs rest on their apparent coherence, rather than their foundations.
The
24 ideas
with the same theme
[principles of mutual support between propositions]:
2082
|
A rational account is essentially a weaving together of things with names
[Plato]
|
1672
|
Maybe everything could be demonstrated, if demonstration can be reciprocal or circular
[Aristotle]
|
17638
|
If one proposition is deduced from another, they are more certain together than alone
[Russell]
|
2764
|
Full coherence might involve consistency and mutual entailment of all propositions
[Blanshard, by Dancy,J]
|
17070
|
Coherence is consilience, simplicity, analogy, and fitting into a web of belief
[Smart]
|
17072
|
We need comprehensiveness, as well as self-coherence
[Smart]
|
12596
|
Reasoning aims at increasing explanatory coherence
[Harman]
|
12599
|
Reason conservatively: stick to your beliefs, and prefer reasoning that preserves most of them
[Harman]
|
6954
|
A coherent conceptual scheme contains best explanations of most of your beliefs
[Harman]
|
9784
|
A false proposition isn't truer because it is part of a coherent system
[Cartwright,R]
|
4262
|
If the only aim was consistent beliefs then new evidence and experiments would be irrelevant
[Goldman]
|
12770
|
We may end up with a huge theory of carefully constructed falsehoods
[Fraassen]
|
8877
|
We can't attain a coherent system by lopping off any beliefs that won't fit
[Sosa]
|
8833
|
Why should we prefer coherent beliefs?
[Klein,P]
|
8797
|
The negation of all my beliefs about my current headache would be fully coherent
[Sosa]
|
3700
|
Coherence can't be validated by appeal to coherence
[Bonjour]
|
8893
|
For any given area, there seem to be a huge number of possible coherent systems of beliefs
[Bonjour]
|
10237
|
Coherence is a primitive, intuitive notion, not reduced to something formal
[Shapiro]
|
17596
|
Coherence problems have positive and negative restraints; solutions maximise constraint satisfaction
[Thagard]
|
17597
|
Coherence is explanatory, deductive, conceptual, analogical, perceptual, and deliberative
[Thagard]
|
17598
|
Explanatory coherence needs symmetry,explanation,analogy,data priority, contradiction,competition,acceptance
[Thagard]
|
12801
|
Coherentists seek relations among beliefs that are simple, conservative and explanatory
[Foley]
|
8616
|
How can multiple statements, none of which is tenable, conjoin to yield a tenable conclusion?
[Elgin]
|
8617
|
Statements that are consistent, cotenable and supportive are roughly true
[Elgin]
|