Michele Palmira (Barcelona). Philosophy With Hypothesis

Resarch Seminar

Michele Palmira (University of Barcelona) will give a talk on:

Philosophy With Hypothesis

Abstract. Over the last decade, epistemologists of disagreement have warned us that systematic philosophical disagreement amongst epistemic peers challenges our doxastic commitment to our own philosophical theories. Call this the Commitment Challenge. Briefly put, the Commitment Challenge hinges on the idea that disagreement is evidence that one’s belief is the output of a flawed cognitive process. In light of this evidence, one is not rationally permitted to retain one’s belief. My aim in this paper is to meet the Commitment Challenge. My key claim is that philosophers are rationally permitted to hypothesise, as opposed to believe, their own philosophical theories. Hypothesis, I maintain, is a sui generis attitude of cognitive inclination towards a proposition qua answer to a given question. I fully spell out the functional and normative profiles of hypothesis and argue that my solution compares favourably with related views put forward by Helen Beebee (2018) and Sandy Goldberg (2013).

Venue: Aula Mondolfo, via Zamboni 38

Time: 9 am