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ObjectionAttacks the positionIf all are equal, nothing is known
If no method holds the privilege of telling the truth, what distinguishes knowledge from a shared illusion? Astrology too claims its 'other way of knowing'.
Objects to
Popper · Conjectures and Refutations · 1963
- Pluralism refuses to grant any method the privilege of telling the truth: all accesses to the real would be equal in principle.
- But then what distinguishes knowledge from a shared illusion? Astrology, conspiracy thinking, quackery also claim their 'other way of knowing'.
- Without a criterion that exposes a claim to the verdict of the facts, one can no longer correct an error or decide between rival theses: 'all are equal' comes down to 'nothing is known'.
Therefore So refusing any privilege to the method that exposes itself to the facts threatens to dissolve the very difference between knowledge and belief: one needs at least a criterion that distinguishes what exposes itself to the real from what shields itself from it.
Possible resolutions of the objection
Challenges