Law necessitarianism and the importance of being intuitive

Daniel Z. Korman

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

The counter-intuitive implications of law necessitarianism pose a far more serious threat than its proponents recognize. Law necessitarians are committed to scientific essentialism, the thesis that there are metaphysically necessary truths which can be known only a posteriori. The most frequently cited arguments for this position rely on modal intuitions. Rejection of intuition thus threatens to undermine it. I consider ways in which law necessitarians might try to defend scientific essentialism without invoking intuition. I then consider ways in which law necessitarians who accept the general reliability of intuition might try to explain away the intuitions which conflict with their theory.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)649-657
Number of pages9
JournalPhilosophical Quarterly
Volume55
Issue number221
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2005
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Philosophy

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