Why would we want to “go deeper on questions of epistemology than a pragmatic approach may at the moment demand”? By definition, it would seem, there is no practical (i.e. instrumental, i.e. pragmatic) reason to do so. Why, then?
I’m careful above to say “than a pragmatic approach may at the moment demand”. Pragmatism has no universal ground to stand on: it’s always pragmatic to the task at hand. I have a need/interest to go deeper, but others may not so they do not and that’s fine; it only means that they bottom out where I want/need to go deeper, same as I take a pragmatic approach to understanding biochemistry or fluid dynamic and bottom out my inquiry much sooner than would a pharmacologist or an aeronautical engineer, respectively.
Conversely, if you start playing the “why go deeper, what’s the practical reason” game, you’ll quickly find there’s little reason for this site or any of the activity on it to exist since, after all, you can live just fine without it (and much else besides), but since people are interested or find themselves with a need to know more to serve some end they have, we’re here anyway.
P.S.: This isn’t just “the problem of induction”, a.k.a. “but you can never be 100% certain!”, is it? Surely that has been adequately dealt with, on Less Wrong…
Yep, that’s another guise this problems takes, and no we haven’t (and cant’!) fully solve it, although some great work has been done on figuring out how to better address this problem formally.
I’m careful above to say “than a pragmatic approach may at the moment demand”. Pragmatism has no universal ground to stand on: it’s always pragmatic to the task at hand. I have a need/interest to go deeper, but others may not so they do not and that’s fine; it only means that they bottom out where I want/need to go deeper, same as I take a pragmatic approach to understanding biochemistry or fluid dynamic and bottom out my inquiry much sooner than would a pharmacologist or an aeronautical engineer, respectively.
Conversely, if you start playing the “why go deeper, what’s the practical reason” game, you’ll quickly find there’s little reason for this site or any of the activity on it to exist since, after all, you can live just fine without it (and much else besides), but since people are interested or find themselves with a need to know more to serve some end they have, we’re here anyway.
Yep, that’s another guise this problems takes, and no we haven’t (and cant’!) fully solve it, although some great work has been done on figuring out how to better address this problem formally.