Bradley Darren
Philosophy Dept Woodhouse Lane, Leeds University, Leeds, LS2 9JT UK.
Synthese. 2024;203(4):126. doi: 10.1007/s11229-024-04516-z. Epub 2024 Apr 15.
An objection to shifty epistemologies such as subject-sensitive invariantism is that it predicts that agents are susceptible to guaranteed losses. Bob Beddor (Analysis, 81, 193-198, 2021) argues that these guaranteed losses are not a symptom of irrationality, on the grounds that forgetful agents are susceptible to guaranteed losses without being irrational. I agree that forgetful agents are susceptible to guaranteed losses without being irrational- but when we investigate why, the analogy with shifty epistemology breaks down. I argue that agents with shifty epistemologies are susceptible to guaranteed losses in a way which is a symptom of irrationality. Along the way I make a suggestion about what it takes for an agent to be coherent over time. I close by offering a taxonomy of shifty epistemologies.
对诸如主体敏感不变论这类多变的认知论的一个反对意见是,它预测主体容易遭受确定无疑的损失。鲍勃·贝多尔(《分析》,第81卷,第193 - 198页,2021年)认为,这些确定无疑的损失并非非理性的表现,理由是健忘的主体容易遭受确定无疑的损失,但并非不理性。我同意健忘的主体容易遭受确定无疑的损失但并非不理性——但当我们探究其原因时,与多变认知论的类比就站不住脚了。我认为,具有多变认知论的主体遭受确定无疑的损失的方式是一种非理性的表现。在此过程中,我对主体如何在时间维度上保持连贯提出了一个建议。最后,我给出了一个多变认知论的分类。