Chapter 7 : Minimizing the Base

So far, I have argued for scrutability from PQT I and from its stripped-down cousin PQT I−, construed to include microphysical and phenomenal truths, a totality claim, and indexical truths. But if this is a scrutability base, it is almost certainly not a minimal scrutability base. Microphysical truths may well be scrutable from truths characterizing a network of entities in causal or nomic terms, grounded in connections to observable and ultimately phenomenal properties. Causal and counterfactual truths may well be scrutable from truths about laws of nature along with physical and phenomenal truths. Indeed, the distribution of physical and phenomenal truths might be scrutable from boundary conditions and laws of nature. In this chapter, I will consider the question of how far the scrutability base can be shrunk, aiming to come up with a plausible candidate for a minimal scrutability base. As in the last chapter, every topic here could be discussed at much greater length. Even if one accepts the general framework of scrutability, one’s verdict about specific cases will depend on one’s substantive philosophical views on the corresponding issues. As well as exploring the sort of package that my own views favor, I will try to give a sense of the most reasonable overall packages.