Reasoning and necessary truths
Keywords:
Necessary propositions, Reasoning, A priori knowledge, Analytic philosophyAbstract
This article examines the epistemological problem of how we access, justify, and believe true and necessary propositions, focusing on the distinctions between a priori and a posteriori knowledge, as well as between necessity and contingency. The author critically revisits Kant’s distinctions between analytic and synthetic judgments and engages with contemporary analytic philosophy, particularly Saul A. Kripke’s theses on necessary a posteriori truths and contingent a priori knowledge. The study challenges the intuitive view of reason as a faculty that directly “intuits” truth and necessity. Instead, it proposes an operational conception of reasoning, inspired by Jean Piaget’s genetic epistemology, according to which reason functions through reversible symbolic operations that allow for the conservation of identities, the establishment of relations, and the justification of necessary propositions. The article argues that necessity is not an immediately given property, but rather the result of intellectual operations such as classification, definition, class exclusion, and the conservation of totalities. The study concludes that knowledge of necessary propositions can be rationally justified independently of experience, provided that reason is understood as an operational system grounding necessity and truth.Downloads
References
Amoretti, A. C. y Vassallo N. “The life According to reason is best and pleasantest”, en Maria Cristina Amoretti y Nicla Vassallo. (Eds.), Reason and Rationality. Germany, Ontos verlag, 2012.
Audi, R. Epistemology. A contemporary introduction to the theory of knowledge. Routledge, London – New York, 1998.
Audi, R. The Architecture of Reason: The Structure and Substance of Rationality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Boghossian, P. & Williamson, T. “Blind reasoning”, en Aristotelian Society Supplementary, Vol. 77, 2003.
Casullo, A. “Analyzing a priori Knowledge”, en Philosophical Studies, No. 142. 2009.
Casullo, A. “Knowledge and modality”, en Synthese No.172, 2010.
Casullo, A. “Analyticity, apriority, Modality” (Forthcoming) en M. García-Carpintero and M. Kölbel, eds., Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Language, (London: Continuum, 2012).
Casullo, A. “Articulating the A Priori-A Posteriori Distinction” (Forthcoming) en Essays on A Priori Knowledge and Justification (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).
Chellas, B. Modal Logic. An introduction. Cambridge University Press, USA. 1980.
Dancy, J. Introducción a la epistemología contemporánea. Madrid, Tecnos, 1993.
Engel, P. “Knowledge and reason”, en en Maria Cristina Amoretti y Nicla Vassallo. (Eds.), Reason and Rationality. Germany, Ontos verlag, 2012.
Fetzer, J. H. Epistemology and cognition. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic,1991.
Fitch, G. W. “Are There Necessary A Posteriori Truths”, en Philosophical Studies Vol. 30, 1976.
Geirsson, H. “Necessity, Apriority and True Identity Statements” en Erkenntnis (1975-) Vol. 40, No. 2 (Mar., 1994).
Goldman, A. Epistemology and cognition. Cambridge, Massachussetts, Harvard University, 1986.
Ichikawa, J. & Jarvis, B. “Rational Imagination and Modal Knowledge”, en NOÛS No. 46, 2012.
Hintikka, J. Lógica, juegos de lenguaje e información. Temas kantianos de filosofía de la lógica. Tecnos, Madrid, 1976.
Huemer, M. Epistemology. Contemporary Readings. Routledge, London – New York, 2002.
Kant, E. Crítica de la Razón Pura. Taurus – Pensamiento – , México, 2005.
Kripke, S. El nombrar y la necesidad. UNAM, México,1985.
Piaget, J. Estudios sobre lógica y psicología, A. Deaño y Juan Delval (Comps.), Alianza, Madrid, 1982.
Piaget, J.. Estudios de psicología genética. EMECÉ, Argentina, 1997.
Piaget, J.y Rolando García, hacia una lógica de significaciones, Gedisa, México, 1989
Piaget, J. Ensayo de Lógica Operatoria. Ed. Guadalaupe, Argentina, 1977.
Piaget, J.Introducción a la Epistemología Genética. 1. El pensamiento matemático. Paidós, México, 1991.
Prescott Barnes, G. “Necessity and apriority”, en Philosophical Studies, No. 132, 2007.
Schechter, J. “Deductive Reasoning”, (Forthcoming) en Hal Pashler (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of the Mind, SAGE Publishing, USA.
Turri, J. “Contingent a priori Knowledge”, (Forthcoming) en Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2013 Raúl E. Rodríguez Monsiváis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes .
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
