Regulative Assumptions, Hinge Propositions and the Peircean Conception of Truth

Abstract

This paper defends a key aspect of the Peircean conception of truth-the idea that truth is in some sense epistemically-constrained. It does so by exploring parallels between Peirce's epistemology of inquiry and that of Wittgenstein in On Certainty. The central argument defends a Peircean claim about truth by appeal to a view shared by Peirce and Wittgenstein about the structure of reasons. This view relies on the idea that certain claims have a special epistemic status, or function as what are popularly called 'hinge propositions'. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.