Gilbert Harman Quotes on Knowledge
Gilbert Harman (1938–2021), the American analytic philosopher whose Thought (1973) and Change in View (1986) gave late-twentieth-century epistemology one of its most influential analyses of inference, defended the doctrine of inference to the best explanation as the central form of non-deductive reasoning by which we actually acquire empirical knowledge. The framework treats theoretical reason as a holistic activity of belief-revision in which the agent updates the total system of beliefs on grounds of explanatory coherence rather than through any rule-governed accumulation of individually justified judgments. Harman's parallel work on moral relativism and on practical reason developed the framework into broader philosophical territory.
Quotes
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Attributed to Gilbert Harman:
“Inference to the best explanation is the most general form of inductive reasoning.”
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Attributed to Gilbert Harman:
“There is no robust character trait of the kind virtue ethics requires.”
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Attributed to Gilbert Harman:
“Reasoning, like perception, can be analyzed without taking inner soliloquy at face value.”
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“Responding to Mae West 's manager's request: "Can't you sound a bit more sexy when you interview her?”
If, sir, I possessed, as you suggest, the power of conveying unlimited sexual attraction through the potency of my voice, I would not be reduced to accepting a miserable pittance from the BBC for interviewing a faded female in a damp basement.