For decades debate has raged over the epistemic closure principle. On one side, Dretske, Nozick and others argue that there are good theoretical arguments for rejecting the epistemic closure principle and that there are compelling counterexamples to it. On the other side, Stroud, Vogel, Hawthorne, and others argue that the epistemic closure principle is a defining feature of ordinary thought and talk about knowledge. Some have gone so far as to claim that denying closure is only slightly less absurd than “denying the transitivity of the taller than relation” (Hawthorne 2004: 38).
Top of page Top of page