Georg Brun on “Is Reflective Equilibrium Relativist, and if yes, is this a Problem?”

When Nelson Goodman introduced what is now called “the method of reflective equilibrium”, he emphasized its pluralist nature: in general, states of reflective equilibrium are not unique and the method permits that alternative sets of judgements and principles may be epistemically justified for different agents. This has given rise to the standard objection that reflective equilibrium is unacceptably relativist. In this talk, I first introduce a detailed account of reflective equilibrium and use it as a basis for exploring the question of which features of reflective equilibrium could be a reason to qualify it as pluralist or relativist. I then report on recent computer simulations which permit to assess for some of these factors whether they tend to be important sources of pluralism. On this basis, I will investigate whether and how reflective equilibrium might best be defended against charges of relativism.

Georg Brun, University of Berne (Switzerland)

To join the session on Zoom, click here.

This event is part of the ArgLab Research Colloquium organised by Maria Grazia Rossi, Andrés Soria Ruiz and Nuno Venturinha at the Laboratory of Reasoning and Argumentation of the Nova Institute of Philosophy. For any inquiries, please contact Maria Grazia, Andrés, or Nuno.