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There are two distinct types of Coherentism. One refers to the coherence theory of truth. The other is belief in the coherence theory of justification — an epistemological theory opposing foundationalism and offering a solution to the regress argument. In this epistemological capacity, it is a theory about how belief can be justified. See the disimbiguation page for the term, true which points out that the derivative term, truth can mean, in simplest terms, A statement that is in accord with the actual state of affairs in any particular case. ...
Theory of justification is that part of epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of statements and beliefs. ...
Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...
The word theory has a number distinct meanings depending on the context. ...
Foundationalism is any theory in epistemology (typically, theories of justification, but also of knowledge) that holds that beliefs are justified (known, etc. ...
The Regress Argument (also known as The Problem of Criterion and the diallelus) is a problem in epistemology and, in general, a problem in any situation where a statement has to be justified. ...
Belief is assent to a proposition. ...
Theory of justification is that part of epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of statements and beliefs. ...
As a theory of truth Coherentism restricts true sentences to those that cohere with some specified set of sentences. Someone's belief is true just in the case that it is coherent with all or most of their other beliefs. Usually, coherence is taken to imply something stronger than mere consistency. Statements that are comprehensive and meet the requirements of Occam's razor are usually to be preferred. See the disimbiguation page for the term, true which points out that the derivative term, truth can mean, in simplest terms, A statement that is in accord with the actual state of affairs in any particular case. ...
Occams Razor (pronounced OCK-um, also spelled Ockhams Razor or any of several other spellings), is a principle attributed to the 14th century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham that forms the basis of methodological reductionism, also called the principle of parsimony or law of economy. ...
The remainder of this article deals with the coherence theory of justification.
The regress argument
The regress argument says that, given some statement P, it appears reasonable to ask for a justification for P. If that justification takes the form of another statement, P', one can again reasonably ask for a justification for P', and so forth. There are three possible outcomes to this questioning process: The Regress Argument (also known as The Problem of Criterion and the diallelus) is a problem in epistemology and, in general, a problem in any situation where a statement has to be justified. ...
The term statement can have several meanings: In programming, a statement is an instruction to execute something that will not return a value. ...
- the series is infinitely long, with every statement justified by some other statement.
- the series forms a loop, so that each statement is ultimately involved in its own justification.
- the series terminates with some statements that are not justified.
An infinite series appears to offer little help, since it is basically impossible to check that each justification is satisfactory. Relying on such a series quickly leads to scepticism. Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical...
A loop begs the question. Coherentism is sometimes characterised as accepting that the series forms a loop, but although this would produce a form of Coherentism, this is not what is generally meant by the term. In logic, begging the question (also called petitio principii) has traditionally described a type of logical fallacy (classified as a material fallacy in the Aristotelian System) in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises ([1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]). Begging...
Foundationalism One might conclude that there must be some statements that, for some reason, do not need justification. This view is called foundationalism. For instance, rationalists such as Descartes and Spinoza developed axiomatic systems that relied on statements that were taken to be self-evident: 'I think therefore I am' is the most famous example. Similarly, empiricists take observations as providing the foundation for the series. Foundationalism is any theory in epistemology (typically, theories of justification, but also of knowledge) that holds that beliefs are justified (known, etc. ...
A separate article deals with a different philosophical position called rationalism. ...
René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher, mathematician and part time mercenary. ...
Baruch Spinoza Benedictus de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677), named Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Spinoza or Bento dEspiñoza in the community in which he grew up. ...
In mathematics, an axiomatic system is any set of axioms from which some or all axioms can be used in conjunction to logically derive theorems. ...
Empiricism (greek εμπειρισμός, from empirical, latin experientia - the experience) is generally regarded as being at the heart of the modern scientific method, that our theories should be based on our observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith; that is, empirical research and a posteriori inductive reasoning rather...
Foundationalism relies on the uneasy claim that it is not reasonable to ask for justification of certain propositions. If someone makes an observational statement, such as 'it is raining', it does seem reasonable to ask how they know. Coherentism does not make this claim, insisting that it is always reasonable to ask for a justification for any statement. Coherentism contends that foundationalism gives an arbitrary spot to stop asking for justification and does not provide reasons to think that certain beliefs do not need justification.
Coherentism Coherentism denies the validity of the regression argument. The regression argument makes the assumption that the justification for a proposition takes the form of another proposition: P" justifies P', which in turn justifies P. For coherentism, justification is a holistic process. P is not justified as a part of some inferential chain of reasoning, but because it coheres with some system of which it forms a part. Usually the system is taken to be the complete set of beliefs of the individual or group, that is, their theory of the world.
It is necessary for coherentism to explain in some detail what it means for a system to be coherent. At the least, coherence must include logical consistency. It also usually requires some degree of integration of the various components of the system. A system that contains more than one unrelated explanation of the same phenomenon is not as coherent as one that uses only one explanation, all other things being equal. Conversely, a theory that explains divergent phenomenon using unrelated explanations is not as coherent as one that uses only one explanation for those divergent phenomena. These requirements are variations on Occam's Razor. The same points can be made more formally using Bayesian statistics. Finally, the greater the number of phenomena explained by the system, the greater its coherence. Occams Razor (pronounced OCK-um, also spelled Ockhams Razor or any of several other spellings), is a principle attributed to the 14th century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham that forms the basis of methodological reductionism, also called the principle of parsimony or law of economy. ...
Bayesian inference is statistical inference in which probabilities are interpreted not as frequencies or proportions or the like, but rather as degrees of belief. ...
Difficulties for coherentism The main criticism facing coherentism is probably simplest to state from the point of view of someone who holds to the correspondence theory of truth. It is that there is no obvious way in which a coherent system relates to anything that might exist outside of it. So, it may be possible to construct a coherent theory of the world, which does not correspond to what actually occurs in the world. In other words, it appears to be entirely possible to develop a system that is entirely coherent and yet entirely untrue. The correspondence theory of truth is the theory that something is rendered true by the existence of a fact with corresponding elements and a similar structure. ...
It is surprisingly difficult to even state the problem from the point of view of a coherentist, because the phrase correspond to reality has a different meaning in a Coherentist system. For a Coherentist, reality is exactly the entire coherent system. It is simply not possible for a coherent theory not to correspond to reality, if reality is the very same thing as the entire coherent system.
Put another way, coherentists might reply to the critic that any substantial system that was not true would by definition contain some contradictions, and so be incoherent.
This should become clear by looking at the differences between a coherentist and correspondence account of a scientific advance. Newtonian mechanics was shown to be inconsistent with certain experiments, notably the Michelson-Morley experiment. The theory used by physicists was thereafter changed from Newtonian to relativistic mechanics. Classical mechanics is a model of the physics of forces acting upon bodies. ...
The Michelson-Morley experiment, one of the most important and famous experiments in the history of physics, was performed in 1887 at what is now Case Western Reserve University, and is considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous aether. ...
Albert Einsteins theory of relativity is a set of two scientific theories in physics: special relativity and general relativity. ...
One who held to a correspondence theory might say that there was an apparent lack of correspondence between the model (physics) and reality, and that the model was altered in order that it correspond to the observed facts. The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements, now known as the Scientific Revolution. ...
Realism is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. ...
A coherentist account might claim that before the Michelson-Morley experiment, Physics formed a coherent theory. But then the experiment was performed. These experimental results form a part of the account, yet the results were inconsistent with the expectations of the accepted theory. Thus the account was shown to be less coherent. This inconsistency was resolved by the development of Relativistic mechanics.
Any lack of correspondence of the theory with reality may eventually lead to a lack of coherence within the theory, and this leads to a modification of the theory to restore its coherence. There would be little or no practical difference between a Coherentist account and a Correspondence account of theory change.
It may remain logically possible for the entire system to be coherent, yet not correspond to reality. Coherentists would argue that this eventuality is extremely unlikely, given the huge range and variety of beliefs that go into the whole system. The question also arises as to how we could ever know that there was such a large scale lack of correspondence – how, for example, could we ever know that we were being deceived by Descartes’ demon? At this level, the problem becomes one for the whole of epistemology, not just for Coherentism. Meditations on First Philosophy (subtitled In which the existence of God and the real distinction of mind and body, are demonstrated), written by René Descartes (1596 - 1650) and first published in 1641, expands upon Descartes philosophical system, which he first introduced in his Discourse on Method (1637). ...
See also See the disimbiguation page for the term, true which points out that the derivative term, truth can mean, in simplest terms, A statement that is in accord with the actual state of affairs in any particular case. ...
The correspondence theory of truth is the theory that something is rendered true by the existence of a fact with corresponding elements and a similar structure. ...
The consensus theory of truth, originated by Charles Sanders Peirce who called it pragmatism, and later pragmaticism, holds that a statement is true if it would be agreed to by all those who investigate it. ...
External links - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
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