How Coherent Are Two Approaches Regarding Coherence With Each Other?

Beisbart, Claus; Brun, Georg; Betz, Gregor (20 September 2018). How Coherent Are Two Approaches Regarding Coherence With Each Other? (Unpublished). In: GAP.10. Vielfalt in der Philosophie und darüber hinaus. Köln. 20. September 2018.

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Coherence is a central catchword in contemporary epistemology. The last few years have witnessed interesting attempts to spell out what coherence is, largely in formal terms. The aim of this paper is to compare two approaches of this sort. The central question is whether more coherence under one approach increases coherence under the other, and vice versa. We focus on reflective equilibrium and probabilistic measures of coherence. When applying reflective equilibrium, an agent tries to systematize her commitments in terms of a theory. The theory and the commitments are mutually adjusted to each other, until an equilibrium state is reached. To understand the method as more than a mere metaphor, we use a formal model of reflective equilibrium. Probabilistic measures of coherence assume a joint probability distribution over a set of propositions. The broad idea then is that, in a coherent set of beliefs, the propositions believed probabilistically overlap or render each other more likely. In our talk, we first recap the approaches to coherence compared in our paper. Second, we explain how we build a conceptual bridge between both approaches. The last part overviews first results, e. g. simulations of a reflective equilibrium process, where we ask whether probabilistic coherence was increased. To conclude, we try to explain our results and provide an outlook.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Philosophy 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Philosophy > Theoretical Philosophy
UniBE Contributor:	Beisbart, Claus, Brun, Georg
Subjects:	100 Philosophy 100 Philosophy > 120 Epistemology
Language:	German
Submitter:	Claus Beisbart
Date Deposited:	28 May 2019 16:18
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:28
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/129693