Competent rule-following

Abstract According to Paul Boghossian’s ‘Inference Problem’, rule-following generates a regress because it involves inference, which itself involves rule-following. Boghossian claims the Problem leads to an ‘antinomy of pure reason’, showing that ‘we both must—and cannot—make sense of the notion of someone’s following a rule’. I argue that there is no antinomy by proposing a solution to the Problem based on the idea that following a rule consists in acting on a commitment to exercising one’s knowledge of how to follow it.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Philosophical Quarterly
Published
2026-10-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqag078
Primary Topic
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Competent rule-following

Camilo Martínez
The Philosophical Quarterly
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
article

Competent rule-following

Camilo Martínez
article en

Abstract

Abstract According to Paul Boghossian’s ‘Inference Problem’, rule-following generates a regress because it involves inference, which itself involves rule-following. Boghossian claims the Problem leads to an ‘antinomy of pure reason’, showing that ‘we both must—and cannot—make sense of the notion of someone’s following a rule’. I argue that there is no antinomy by proposing a solution to the Problem based on the idea that following a rule consists in acting on a commitment to exercising one’s knowledge of how to follow it.

The Philosophical Quarterly
Central European University (AT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
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Competent rule-following — Camilo Martínez · The Philosophical Quarterly (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS