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    Knowledge of first principles is certain — Carmelics
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    Supports→Anything properly derived from first principles by syllogistic inference is known with certainty

    Knowledge of first principles is certain

    Truth & Knowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.The intellect has only to form judgments about first principles to see that they are true
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    • 2.First principles are self-evident upon intellectual formation
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.What counts as a 'first principle' varies across cultures and historical periods, suggesting social construction rather than self-evidence.
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    • 2.Aristotle's law of non-contradiction, often cited as a paradigm first principle, was rejected as non-fundamental by Hegel's dialectical logic.
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    • 3.If first principles were genuinely self-evident to the intellect, rational disagreement about their content would be impossible, yet it demonstrably occurs.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Descartes' First Meditation demonstrates that the reliability of the intellectual faculties that 'see' first principles is itself open to systematic doubt.
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    • 2.Scotus's account is circular: certainty of first principles depends on intellectual reliability, which cannot be established without appealing to those same principles.
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    Topics

    Truth & Knowledge

    Key Terms

    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.

    Related

    Anything properly derived from first principles by syllogistic inference is know...Aristotle's law of non-contradiction, often cited as a paradigm first principle,...Descartes' First Meditation demonstrates that the reliability of the intellectua...First principles are self-evident upon intellectual formation
    +5 moreShow less
    If first principles were genuinely self-evident to the intellect, rational disag...Scotus's account is circular: certainty of first principles depends on intellect...The intellect has only to form judgments about first principles to see that they...The validity of proper syllogistic inference can be known in the same self-evide...What counts as a 'first principle' varies across cultures and historical periods...

    Similar

    A first principle must be utterly unconditioned — its certainty must n...84%Many of our own acts are known with certainty equal to first principle...83%Being true, first, and immediate concern what the principles are in th...80%The intellect has only to form judgments about first principles to see...80%

    Source

    AI-extracted
    SEP: duns-scotus
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    So Henry’s arguments, far from showing that certainty is possible through divine illumination, actually lead to a pervasive skepticism. Scotus counters that we can show that skepticism is false. We can in fact attain certainty, and we can do so by the unaided exercise of our natural intellectual powers. There are four types of knowledge in which infallible certainty is possible. First, knowledge of first principles is certain because the intellect has only to form such judgments to see that they

    Details

    Type
    premise
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit