Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/29009
Title: What is the Relation between a Philosophical Stance and Its Associated Beliefs?
Contributor(s): Boucher, Sandy C  (author)
Publication Date: 2018-12
DOI: 10.1111/1746-8361.12251
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/29009
Abstract: Van Fraassen's view that many philosophical positions should be understood as stances rather than factual beliefs, has become increasingly popular. But the precise relation between a philosophical stance, and the factual beliefs that typically accompany it, is an unresolved issue. It is widely accepted that no factual belief is sufficient for holding a particular stance, but some have argued that holding certain factual beliefs is nonetheless necessary for adopting a given stance. I argue against this claim, along with the weaker claim that while there are no beliefs that are necessary for adopting a particular stance, those who share a stance must share some characteristic belief(s) in common. I outline and defend an alternative ‘cluster’ account, according to which, in order to accept a stance, one must hold some minimal subset of the set of theoretical beliefs characteristic of the stance in question. This view can accommodate the intuitions motivating those who defend the stronger necessity claims, while crucially allowing for the flexibility of a stance vis-à-vis the relevant factual beliefs, and its relative independence from those beliefs, which is central to van Fraassen's main examples of stances and their nature.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Dialectica, 72(4), p. 509-524
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1746-8361
0012-2017
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 220206 History and Philosophy of Science (incl. Non-historical Philosophy of Science)
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 500305 Epistemology
500317 Philosophy of science (excl. history and philosophy of specific fields)
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970122 Expanding Knowledge in Philosophy and Religious Studies
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280119 Expanding knowledge in philosophy and religious studies
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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