
Published online:
03 October 2011
Published in print:
14 September 1995
Online ISBN:
9780191679162
Print ISBN:
9780198236016
Contents
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2.1. The Philosophical Partisans of Cognitive Consensus 2.1. The Philosophical Partisans of Cognitive Consensus
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Aristotle. Aristotle.
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St Augustine. St Augustine.
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The Enlightenment. The Enlightenment.
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J. S. Mill. J. S. Mill.
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C. S. Peirce. C. S. Peirce.
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Josiah Royce. Josiah Royce.
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Jürgen Habermas: Consensus as a Regulative Principle of Rationality. Jürgen Habermas: Consensus as a Regulative Principle of Rationality.
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2.2 The Critics of Cognitive Consensus 2.2 The Critics of Cognitive Consensus
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Sceptics. Sceptics.
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Cognitive Élitists. Cognitive Élitists.
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Social Science Critics. Social Science Critics.
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2.3 Modern Limited Defences of Consensus 2.3 Modern Limited Defences of Consensus
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Scientific Methodologists. Scientific Methodologists.
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Epistemic Minimalists. Epistemic Minimalists.
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Cognitive Psychologists. Cognitive Psychologists.
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Meaning Theorists. Meaning Theorists.
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2.4 Science and Consensus 2.4 Science and Consensus
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Chapter
2 Is Consensus Required in the Pursuit of Truth?
Get access
Pages
21–43
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Published:September 1995
Cite
Rescher, Nicholas, 'Is Consensus Required in the Pursuit of Truth?', Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus, Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy (Oxford , 1995; online edn, Oxford Academic, 3 Oct. 2011), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198236016.003.0002, accessed 28 Apr. 2025.
Abstract
This chapter examines the importance of consensus in the pursuit of truth. It discusses the philosophy of prominent exponents and advocates of cognitive consensus including Aristotle and his Nicomachean Ethics, Saint Augustine, John Stuart Mill, Charles Sanders Peirce, and Jürgen Habermas. It identifies opponents and critics of cognitive consensus that include sceptics, cognitive elitists, and social science critics. This chapter concludes that as far as rational inquiry is concerned, consensus is no more than a regulative ideal that cannot be expected to be achieved in concrete situations.
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