The Internalist Justificatory Function of Reductio Ad Absurdum
Manuel Arnulfo Cañas Muñoz
Abstract
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Manuel Arnulfo Cañas Muñoz
Abstract
Open-access reader
In the present essay it is discussed the main features of reductio ad absurdum as a source of justification. These properties are consequences of the employment of contradictions as a reason for proving if a statement is true. Although a valid deductive argument can build an internalistic justification, I would suggest that the justification obtained by reductio ad absurdum cannot be externalist. This is because contradictions as reasons can be considered internal states from different definitions.
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In the present essay it is discussed the main features of reductio ad absurdum as a source of justification. These properties are consequences of the employment of contradictions as a reason for proving if a statement is true. Although a valid deductive argument can build an internalistic justification, I would suggest that the justification obtained by reductio ad absurdum cannot be externalist. This is because contradictions as reasons can be considered internal states from different definitions.
Key concepts: Reductio ad absurdum, Externalism, Internalism and externalism, Argument (complex analysis), Epistemology, Philosophy, Function (biology), Chemistry