The entailment relation invoked by an entailment account ... — Carmelics

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The entailment relation invoked by an entailment account of ontological commitment must be knowable a priori by any ideally rational agent.

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Reasons For

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Reason for

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1.If ontological commitment is to play a role in theory choice or clarifying ontological disputes, then the ontological commitments of a theory must be rationally accessible.
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2.Failure to acknowledge the ontological commitments of one's theory must be a rational failing.
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3.Rational accessibility requires that the entailments of a theory be knowable a priori by any ideally rational agent.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against 1 of 2

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1.Quine's criterion grounds ontological commitment in the bound variables of our best scientific theories, which are themselves subject to empirical revision.
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2.If ontological commitments are hostage to empirical theory change, then recognizing them requires a posteriori knowledge of which theories survive scientific scrutiny.
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3.Therefore, the entailment relation tracking ontological commitment cannot be fully knowable a priori, even by an ideally rational agent.
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