[extropy-chat] Appeal to Authority

[gts]

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 23:19:52 -0500, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at tsoft.com> wrote:

>> More interesting to me, and the reason I mentioned your
>> name, Lee, is the idea that even so-called valid logical
>> arguments might sometimes be fallacious.
>
> Hmm, I worry that some of the terms you're using here will
> cause confusion. *Valid logical arguments* cannot be
> fallacious on their own terms. By that I mean that they
> are part of a closed system that can only be criticized
> from outside. But you may have meant that too.

Yes, that is what I meant.

Logical argument is an attempt to find "justified true belief," considered  
the holy grail of epistemology until people like Campbell and Popper came  
along and disputed the very notion that justified true belief is possible.  
According to them, all knowledge is conjectural and may never be  
justified, even with seemingly true and valid arguments. The best we can  
do is attempt to falsify our conjectures in an effort to find some that  
might be closer to the truth than others.

>> Cracking the Dogmatic Framework of Thought
>> http://www.the-rathouse.com/bartdogmatic.html
>
> Thanks for that. It's a pretty good essay, though the first
> half is misleading. The writer fails to emphasize the
> *evolutionary* nature of Pan-Critical Rationalism.

The author, Rafe Champion, is I believe a professor of philosophy with a  
special interest in evolutionary epistemology. I first saw him in an email  
discussion group dedicated to Popperian ideas. Lots of good stuff here:  
http://www.the-rathouse.com

-gts