Doxastic dilemmas and epistemic blame

What should we believe when epistemic and practical reasons pull in opposite directions? The traditional view states that there is something that we ought epistemically to believe and something that we ought practically to (cause ourselves to) believe, period. More recent accounts challenge this view, either by arguing that there is something that we ought simpliciter to believe, all epistemic and practical reasons considered (the weighing view), or by denying the normativity of epistemic reasons altogether (epistemic anti‐normativism). I argue against both accounts and defend the traditional view. An agent can be blameworthy in doxastic dilemmas for complying with their practical but not their epistemic reasons. This reveals how epistemic reasons are normative: the concept of epistemic blame helps us track epistemic normativity.

Publication Details

Journal
Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Published
2024-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-263359
Primary Topic
Species Distribution and Climate Change
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Doxastic dilemmas and epistemic blame

Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Species Distribution and Climate Change
article

Doxastic dilemmas and epistemic blame

article en

Abstract

What should we believe when epistemic and practical reasons pull in opposite directions? The traditional view states that there is something that we ought epistemically to believe and something that we ought practically to (cause ourselves to) believe, period. More recent accounts challenge this view, either by arguing that there is something that we ought simpliciter to believe, all epistemic and practical reasons considered (the weighing view), or by denying the normativity of epistemic reasons altogether (epistemic anti‐normativism). I argue against both accounts and defend the traditional view. An agent can be blameworthy in doxastic dilemmas for complying with their practical but not their epistemic reasons. This reveals how epistemic reasons are normative: the concept of epistemic blame helps us track epistemic normativity.

Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Openalex Percentile: Top 54%
Species Distribution and Climate Change
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