The evil demon argument as based on closure plus meta-coherence

Jean-Baptiste Guillon

pp. 4703-4731

in: Stefano Cossara, Jean-Baptiste Rauzy, Xiaoxing Zhang (eds), Cartesian epistemology, Synthese 195 (11), 2018.

Abstract

Descartes’s Evil Demon argument has been the subject of many reconstructions in recent analytic debates. Some have proposed a reconstruction with a principle of Infallibility, others with a principle of Closure of Knowledge, others with more original principles. In this paper, I propose a new reconstruction, which relies on the combination of two principles, namely the Meta-Coherence principle (defended by Huemer) and the principle of Closure of Justification (best defended by Hawthorne). I argue that the argument construed in this way is the best interpretation of what is really at play in the Evil Demon intuition, and also that this argument is dialectically much stronger than previous reconstructions. If this is right, then the “Closure plus Meta-Coherence” argument is what anti-sceptics should really be attacking.

Cited authors

Descartes René