Temporal Externalism and Epistemic Theories of Vagueness

Temporal Externalism and Epistemic Theories

‘Epistemic’ theories of vagueness notoriously claim that (despite the appearances to the contrary) all of our vague terms have sharp boundaries; it’s just that we can’t know what they are. Epistemic theories are typically criticized for failing to explain (1) the source of the ignorance postulated, and (2) how our terms could come to have such precise boundaries. Both of these objections will, ...

Temporal Externalism , Constitutive Norms , and Theories of Vagueness Henry Jackman

Vagueness has always been a problem for philosophers. This is true in a number of ways. One obvious way is that the vagueness inherent in much philosophical discourse has always lead to problems in the interpretation and criticism of philosophical arguments. This is a way in which the vagueness of language causes problems for philosophers. (We can call this “the practical problem of vagueness.”...

Externalism, Epistemic Artefacts and the Extended Mind

A Metaphilosophical Dilemma for Epistemic Externalism

In this article I argue that the prevalence of intersubjective disagreement in epistemology poses a serious problem for Epistemic Externalism. I put the problem in the form of a dilemma: either Epistemic Externalism is not a complete account of epistemic justification or it’s implausible to claim that the belief that Epistemic Externalism is true is itself an externalistically justified belief.

Fuzzy Logic and Theories of Vagueness

Fuzzy Logic has been successfully applied to all kinds of scenarios, where degrees of membership and truth can be systematically discerned. However it is highly contentious whether this fact renders Fuzzy Logic an ideal tool for modelling reasoning with vague concepts and propositions. There is a lively and prolific debate in analytic philosophy about so-called theories of vagueness. Interestin...