推定及其实用主义解释

做出一个推定意味着将被推定的东西暂时接受为真,直到它被证明为假。因此,推定允许我们在缺乏充分认知保障的情况下进行试探性的认知实践。然而,推定的认识论基础并不牢靠,在包含推定的推理中,我们得到的既非传统意义的知识,也非确然的事实,究竟是什么为推定的合理使用提供了依据?我们又如何做出一个合理有效的推定?这是亟待解决的问题。一个成功的解释既要符合推定的三个基本特征,同时又要能够阐明其认识论基础,从这个角度来看,目前流行几种解释理论并不成功。雷谢尔关于推定的论述揭示出一种实用主义解释的可能,本文将表明实用主义解释更具合理性,它包含以下三个方面:通过似真性概念建立推定的基本原则,通过融贯论建立似真性的认识论辩护,通过实用主义的效验原则建立其使用的合理性基础。

Presumption and Its Pragmatic Explanation

To make a presumption is to temporarily accept what presumed as true until it turns out to be otherwise.Therefore,with presumption,we are allowed to tentatively make cognitive practices in the absence of adequate cognitive warrant.However,the presumptive epistemological foundation is not solid.In the reasoning involving presumption,what we get is neither knowledge in traditional sense,nor some kind of facts.Then what makes presumption used properly,and how can we make a reasonable and effective presumption?This is a problem that needs to be solved.A successful explanation should not only respect the three basic features of presumption,but also clarify its epistemological foundation.From this point of view,those current explanations on sale are not successful,while Rescher’s discussion of presumption reveals that a pragmatic approach may be hopeful.This paper believes that a successful explanation as such should include the following three aspects:to establish the basic principles of presumption through the concept of plausibility,to establish a plausible epistemological justification through coherentism on truth,to establish its reasonable application by a pragmatic principle of validation.