Immunizing Strategies and Epistemic Defense Mechanisms |
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Authors: | Maarten Boudry Johan Braeckman |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Philosophy & Moral Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium |
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Abstract: | An immunizing strategy is an argument brought forward in support of a belief system, though independent from that belief system, which makes it more or less invulnerable to rational argumentation and/or empirical evidence. By contrast,
an epistemic defense mechanism is defined as a structural feature of a belief system which has the same effect of deflecting arguments and evidence. We discuss the remarkable recurrence of certain patterns of immunizing strategies and defense mechanisms in pseudoscience and other belief systems. Five different
types will be distinguished and analyzed, with examples drawn from widely different domains. The difference between immunizing
strategies and defense mechanisms is analyzed, and their epistemological status is discussed. Our classification sheds new
light on the various ways in which belief systems may achieve invulnerability against empirical evidence and rational criticism, and we propose our analysis as part of an explanation of these belief
systems’ enduring appeal and tenacity. |
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