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Benjamin Davies’s avatar
Benjamin DaviesOP·​#2826·​
1st of 2 versions·​latest

Fallibilism

This is the philosophical position that all human knowledge—every belief, theory, and observation—is conjectural, incomplete, and potentially mistaken. It holds that there is no conclusive justification and no rational certainty for any belief. Fallibilism is distinct from skepticism. Skepticism argues that because certainty is impossible, knowledge is impossible. Fallibilism agrees that certainty is impossible but denies that this invalidates knowledge. Fallibilism holds that people can and do possess real, objective knowledge, and that people can improve it through a process of error correction.

Criticized3Linked to by #3086
Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis Hackethal·​#3034·​·​Criticism

[Fallibilism] is the philosophical position that all human knowledge … is … incomplete …

That doesn’t sound right. Potentially incomplete maybe. But you can reach perfection in some fields. You just can’t know with certainty that you’ve reached it.

Don’t Take Fallibilism Too Far
Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis Hackethal·​#3035·​·​Criticism

It holds that there is no conclusive justification and no rational certainty for any belief.

First you speak of “every belief, theory, and observation”, then you speak only of belief. Some people may accidentally conclude that there can be rational certainty for theories and observations, just not for beliefs.

Benjamin Davies’s avatar
Benjamin DaviesOP·​#3085·​·​Criticism·​System-generated

Superseded by #3084.

  • Rationally adoptable.
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