Max Scheler
Gesellschaft

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235463

Ideological parsimony

Sam Cowling

pp. 3889-3908

Abstrakt

The theoretical virtue of parsimony values the minimizing of theoretical commitments, but theoretical commitments come in two kinds: ontological and ideological. While the ontological commitments of a theory are the entities it posits, a theory’s ideological commitments are the primitive concepts it employs. Here, I show how we can extend the distinction between quantitative and qualitative parsimony, commonly drawn regarding ontological commitments, to the domain of ideological commitments. I then argue that qualitative ideological parsimony is a theoretical virtue. My defense proceeds by demonstrating the merits of qualitative ideological parsimony and by showing how the qualitative conception of ideological parsimony undermines two notable arguments from ideological parsimony: David Lewis’ defense of modal realism and Ted Sider’s defense of mereological nihilism.

Publication details

Published in:

(2013) Synthese 190 (17).

Seiten: 3889-3908

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-012-0231-7

Referenz:

Cowling Sam (2013) „Ideological parsimony“. Synthese 190 (17), 3889–3908.