more from Willard Quine

Single Idea 8827

[catalogued under 13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 9. Naturalised Epistemology]

Full Idea

If normativity is wholly excluded from naturalized epistemology it cannot even be thought of as being about beliefs.

Clarification

'Normativity' concerns what we ought to believe

Gist of Idea

Without normativity, naturalized epistemology isn't even about beliefs

Source

comment on Willard Quine (Epistemology Naturalized [1968]) by Jaegwon Kim - What is 'naturalized epistemology'? p.306

Book Reference

'Epistemology - An Anthology', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Kim,J. [Blackwell 2000], p.306


A Reaction

And if it doesn't refer to beliefs, it certainly doesn't refer to knowledge. One might try to subsume normativity under evolutionary pragmatic 'drives', or something. Quine's project would then become wildly speculative, and hence boring.