Phenomenal Conservatism
In epistemology, phenomenal conservatism (PC) holds that it is reasonable to assume that things are as they appear, except when there are positive grounds for doubting this. (The term derives from the Greek word "phainomenon", meaning "appearance".)
The principle was initially defended in Huemer 2001, where it was formulated as follows:
- If it seems to S as if p, then S thereby has at least prima facie justification for believing that p.
A later formulation, designed to allow the principle to encompass inferential as well as foundational justification, reads as follows.
- If it seems to S that p, then, in the absence of defeaters, S thereby has at least some degree of justification for believing that p.
Read more about Phenomenal Conservatism: Arguments For PC, Criticisms of PC, Annotated Bibliography
Famous quotes containing the words phenomenal and/or conservatism:
“That is almost the whole of Russian literature: the phenomenal coruscations of the souls of quite commonplace people.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The world is burdened with young fogies. Old men with ossified minds are easily dealt with. But men who look young, act young and everlastingly harp on the fact that they are young, but who nevertheless think and act with a degree of caution that would be excessive in their grandfathers, are the curse of the world. Their very conservatism is secondhand, and they don’t know what they are conserving.”
—Robertson Davies (b. 1913)