Epistemic internalism and testimonial justification

ABSTRACTAccording to epistemic internalists, facts about justification supervene upon one's internal reasons for believing certain propositions. Epistemic externalists, on the other hand, deny this. More specifically, externalists think that the supervenience base of justification isn't exhausted by one's internal reasons for believing certain propositions. In the last decade, the internalism–externalism debate has made its mark on the epistemology of testimony. The proponent of internalism about the epistemology of testimony claims that a hearer's testimonial justification for believing that p supervenes upon his internal reasons for thinking that the speaker's testimony that p is true. Recently, however, several objections have been raised against this view. In this paper, I present an argument providing intuitive support for internalism about the epistemology of testimony. Moreover, I also defend the argument against three recent objections offered by Stephen Wright in a couple of recent papers. The upshot of my discussion is that external conditions do make an epistemic difference when it comes to our testimonial beliefs, but that they cannot make any difference with respect to their justificatory status – i.e., they are justificationally irrelevant

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Skriftlig del av masterprosjekt, Kunstakademiet, 2022

What Are the Key Financial Predictors of Bankruptcy in the Energy Industry?

This thesis investigates the key financial predictors of bankruptcy in the energy industry from 2010 to 2024 using the Cox Proportional Hazard Model, a statistical technique commonly used in survival analysis. Various financial measures of the firm‘s performance were selected and analysed to identify the most significant predictors of firm survival and bankruptcy. The study identifies the Asset Turnover Ratio and Long-Term Debt Ratio as most signifi- cant predictors. A lower Asset Turnover Ratio is associated with a higher prob- ability of bankruptcy, highlighting the importance of operational efficiency. Additionally, the Equity/Total Liabilities ratio was identified as a significant predictor, and as a risk-reducing variable. Interestingly, this study also found that a higher Long-Term Debt Ratio improves the survival chances, indicating that well-managed debt provides financial stability in the energy sector. This underscores the complexity of capital structure and its impact across differ- ent countries and industries. Future research should incorporate firm-specific variables and macroeconomic factors to provide a deeper understanding of bankruptcy risk in the energy sector

Algorithms for Linearly Ordered Boolean Formulas

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Imagination Cannot Justify Empirical Belief

A standard view in the epistemology of imagination is that imaginings can either provide justification for modal beliefs about what is possible (and perhaps counterfactual conditionals too), or no justification at all. However, in a couple of recent articles, Kind (2016; Forthcoming) argues that imaginings can justify empirical belief about what the world actually is like. In this article, I respond to her argument, showing that imagination doesn't provide the right sort of information to justify empirical belief. Nevertheless, it can help us take advantage of justification that we already have, thereby enabling us to form new doxastically justified beliefs. More specifically, according to the view I advocate, imagination can contribute to one's satisfaction of the proper basing condition – which turns propositional justification into doxastic justification – but without conferring any new justification that the subject isn't already in possession of upon their beliefs. Very little attention has been devoted to the distinction between propositional and doxastic justification in the literature on imagination, and the view I here argue for takes up a yet-to-be occupied position

Evolutionary Psychology and Normal Science: in Search of a Unifying Research Program

Why are there so many controversies in evolutionary psychology? Using a couple of concepts from philosophy of science, this paper argues that evolutionary psychology has not reached the stage of mature, normal science, since it does not currently have a unifying research program that guides individual scientists working in the discipline. The argument goes against claims made by certain proponents and opponents of evolutionary psychology, and it is supported by discussion of several examples. The paper notes that just because evolutionary psychology has not reached the stage of normal science, the discipline is nevertheless a source of many progressive theoretical developments and interesting empirical discoveries.publishedVersionPaid Open Acces