Vagueness and Evidence

Author:

Bacon Andrew

Abstract

If there are vague propositions it is natural to wonder what role they play in thought. A natural picture, given a linguistic theory of vagueness, is that one only learns a vague proposition via a public language sentence that expresses it (e.g. by hearing someone reliable asserting the sentence). This chapter argues that there are many ways to obtain vague evidence that do not involve language. It focuses on ‘inexact’ evidence acquired through imperfect perceptual faculties, and argues that the effect of inexact evidence on our credences is similar to the effect of conditioning on a vague proposition, and cannot easily be simulated by conditioning on any precise proposition. The chapter introduces the notion of an evidential role—a profile of the effects a certain piece of inexact evidence can have on your credences—and outlines the central principle of vague propositions: the Principle of Plenitude. This principle states that there is a vague proposition occupying every evidential role.

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Cited by 9 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. Vague perception;Philosophical Studies;2024-04-06

2. Mathematical Modality: An Investigation in Higher-order Logic;Journal of Philosophical Logic;2023-11-28

3. A Theory of Marginal and Large Difference;Erkenntnis;2023-07-08

4. On the optimality of vagueness: “around”, “between” and the Gricean maxims;Linguistics and Philosophy;2023-05-15

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