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Related Experiment Video

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Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Published on: April 18, 2017

The persuasiveness puzzle about bootstrapping.

Guido Melchior^1,2

¹Department of Philosophy University of Graz Heinrichstraße 26 8010 Graz Austria.

|February 28, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Bootstrapping is generally unconvincing for proving source reliability when doubts exist. However, this method can be persuasive for establishing belief in a source

Keywords:

Mooreanism bootstrapping doubting persuasiveness reasoning

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Area of Science:

Epistemology
Philosophy of Science

Background:

Bootstrapping is a method used to assess the reliability of a source.
Beliefs about the reliability of our senses are often formed through a bootstrapping process.
A puzzle exists regarding the persuasiveness of bootstrapping, especially concerning source reliability.

Purpose of the Study:

To resolve the puzzle surrounding the persuasiveness of bootstrapping.
To differentiate the conditions under which bootstrapping is and is not persuasive for establishing source reliability.

Main Methods:

Philosophical argumentation and conceptual analysis.
Examination of the bootstrapping process in different epistemic contexts.

Main Results:

Bootstrapping is not persuasive for establishing the reliability of a source when initial doubts about its reliability are present.
Bootstrapping can be persuasive for forming beliefs about the reliability of a source when one is initially unaware of its reliability, such as in the case of our sensory apparatus.

Conclusions:

The persuasiveness of bootstrapping is context-dependent.
Bootstrapping serves a different epistemic function when initial skepticism is present versus when forming foundational beliefs.