Is Reflective Equilibrium Relativist, and if yes, is this a Problem?
A próxima sessão do ArgLab Research Colloquium decorrerá no dia 3 de dezembro, às 11:00, e contará com a presença de Georg Brun, da Universidade de Berna (Suíça). A sessão terá lugar no Colégio Almada Negreiros – CAN 209 e será transmitida online.
Para participar via Zoom, clique aqui.
O ArgLab Research Colloquium é organizado por Maria Grazia Rossi, Andrés Soria Ruiz e Nuno Venturinha no Laboratório de Argumentação do Instituto de Filosofia da Nova. Para qualquer esclarecimento, por favor contacte Maria Grazia, Andrés, ou Nuno.
Is Reflective Equilibrium Relativist, and if yes, is this a Problem?
When Nelson Goodman introduced what is now called “the method of reflective equilibrium”, he emphasized its pluralist nature: in general, states of reflective equilibrium are not unique and the method permits that alternative sets of judgements and principles may be epistemically justified for different agents. This has given rise to the standard objection that reflective equilibrium is unacceptably relativist. In this talk, I first introduce a detailed account of reflective equilibrium and use it as a basis for exploring the question of which features of reflective equilibrium could be a reason to qualify it as pluralist or relativist. I then report on recent computer simulations which permit to assess for some of these factors whether they tend to be important sources of pluralism. On this basis, I will investigate whether and how reflective equilibrium might best be defended against charges of relativism.