Philosophical Clarifications Studies Illustrating the Methodology of Philosophical Elucidation Nicholas Rescher Philosophical Clarifications Nicholas Rescher Philosophical Clarifications Studies Illustrating the Methodology of Philosophical Elucidation Nicholas Rescher Department of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA, USA ISBN 978-3-030-15268-0 ISBN 978-3-030-15269-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15269-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2019934459 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. 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This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland P reface In a programmatic 1930s tract, the influential Austrian philosopher Moritz Schlick wrote that while both the scientist and the philosopher deal with our questions about the nature of things, “The difference between the task of the scientist and the task of the philosopher is that the scientists seeks the truth (the correct answers) and the philosophers attempts to clarify the meaning (of the questions).”1 But the obvious problem with this purported division of labor is that these two issues— truth and meaning—are inseparably interconnected. You cannot inves- tigate the truth of a claim if you do not understand its meaning, and you cannot grasp its meaning if you do not endorse the truth of the claim’s underlying presumptions. (“What is the highest mountain in Nicaragua?” is a pointless query unless and until the existence of moun- tains in that country is an accepted truth.) Clarifying issue of meaning generally requires also addressing questions of truth—and conversely. The two just do not admit a surgical separation. It is, however, the mat- ter of issue-clarification that is the foremost concern in the present book. In a few instances, the book’s chapters draw on earlier publications in the professional literature. In each case, this has been described in the endnotes. v vi PREfACE As ever, I am indebted to Estelle Burris for her indispensable help in putting these materials into publishable shape. Also, I am grateful to James Baron for his help in editing my manuscript. Pittsburgh, PA, USA Nicholas Rescher Note 1. Mortz Schlick, “Die Wende der Philosophie,” Erkenntnis, vol. 1 (1930), pp. 4–11 (see p. 4). c oNteNts Part I Issues of Philosophy 1 Introduction 3 2 On Philosophical Deliberation 7 3 On Philosophical Historiography 39 4 Pragmatic Perspectives 57 Part II Issues of Knowledge 5 Imprecise Boundaries 101 6 Conjecture 107 7 The Limits of Language 115 8 Quantitative Epistemology 133 9 Issues of Explanation 139 vii viii CoNTENTS 10 Does Inference to the Best Explanation Work? 145 11 Contingency 155 Part III Issues of Practice 12 Luck 173 13 The Protagoras Perplex 191 14 Acknowledging Scientific Contributions 205 15 Personal vs. Social Utilitarianism 221 16 On Excuses from Moral Obligation 225 17 On the Philosophy of Religion 233 Index 239 PART I Issues of Philosophy CHAPTER 1 Introduction Philosophy is one particular human enterprise among many, identified by its characterizing mission of answering to the “big questions” that we have regarding the world’s scheme of things and our place within it. often as not, those “big questions” in philosophy are explanatory ques- tions, questions whose answers enable us to understand why things are as they indeed are. Philosophizing thus endeavors to create an edifice of thought able to provide us with a habitable thought-shelter in a compli- cated and challenging world. As a venture in providing rationally cogent answers to our questions about large-scale issues regarding belief, evalu- ation, and action, philosophy is a key sector of the cognitive enterprise at large. And subsidiarily—since a rational creature acts on the basis of its beliefs—philosophy also has a bearing on action, implementing the idea of PHILoSoPHIA BIoU KUBERNÊTÊS—the motto of the American Phi Beta Kappa honorary society which has it that philosophy is a guide to life. However, before philosophy’s questions can be addressed, they need first of all to be explained and clarified. How exactly the issues invoked are to be interpreted and understood, and what considerations are at issue here need to be explained at—or near—the outset. And what pre- suppositions need to be made if those questions are ever to arise. In sum, philosophical investigations always have significant preliminaries. In this domain, issue clarification must accordingly precede issue resolution: Substantive investigation requires prior analysis. © The Author(s) 2019 3 N. Rescher, Philosophical Clarifications, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15269-7_1