A Framework for Pragmatic Reliability

We propose a framework for pragmatic reliability-in-the-limit criteria, extending the epistemic reliability framework (Kelly 1996). We identify some common scientific contexts which complicate the application or interpretation of epistemic reliability criteria, drawing heavily from economics for illustrative examples. We then propose an extension of the standard framework, where inquiry is constrained by both epistemic and non-epistemic factors. This provides analogous notions of pragmatic underdetermination and pragmatic reliability with respect to a particular goal, as well as a principled method for extracting solvable problems from unsolvable ones