Pancritical rationalism (literally "criticism of all things", from
pan-, "all", also known as PCR), also called comprehensively critical rationalism (CCR), is a development of
critical rationalism
Critical rationalism is an epistemological philosophy advanced by Karl Popper on the basis that, if a statement cannot be logically deduced (from what is known), it might nevertheless be possible to logically falsify it. Following Hume, Poppe ...
and
panrationalism originated by
William Warren Bartley
William Warren Bartley III (October 2, 1934 – February 5, 1990), known as W. W. Bartley III, was an American philosopher specializing in 20th century philosophy, language and logic, and the Vienna Circle.
Early life and education
Born in Wi ...
in his book ''
The Retreat to Commitment''. PCR attempts to work around the problem of ultimate commitment or infinite regress by decoupling criticism and justification. A pancritical rationalist holds all positions open to criticism, including PCR itself. Such a position in principle never resorts to
appeal to authority
An argument from authority (''argumentum ab auctoritate''), also called an appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam, is a form of argument in which the opinion of an authority on a topic is used as evidence to support an argument. Some con ...
for justification of stances, since all authorities are held to be intrinsically
fallible
Originally, fallibilism (from Medieval Latin: ''fallibilis'', "liable to err") is the philosophical principle that propositions can be accepted even though they cannot be conclusively proven or justified,Haack, Susan (1979)"Fallibilism and Nece ...
.
References
* William W. Bartley: ''The Retreat to Commitment'' (Open Court, 1990), .
* William W. Bartley
Rationality versus the Theory of Rationality In Mario Bunge (Ed.): ''The Critical Approach to Science and Philosophy'' (New York: Free Press, 1964).
* William W. Bartley
The Philosophy of Karl Popper. Part III. Rationality, Criticism, and Logic ''Philosophia'' 11:1–2 (February 1982), 121–221.
*
David Miller: Comprehensively Critical Rationalism: An Assessment. ''Critical Rationalism'' (Open Court, 1994), .
* Gerard Radnitzky, William W. Bartley (Eds.): ''Evolutionary Epistemology, Rationality and the Sociology of Knowledge'' (Open Court, 1987), .
* Mariano Artigas: ''The Ethical Nature of Karl Popper's Theory of Knowledge: Including Popper's unpublished comments on Bartley and critical rationalism'' (Peter Lang Publishing, 1999), .
External links
Pancritical Rationalism: An Extropic Metacontext for Memetic ProgressThe Bartley Institute
Metaphilosophy
Rationalism
Criticism
Epistemological theories
{{epistemology-stub