Edmund Husserl and the History of Classical Foundationalism

Abstract

According to many present-day epistemologists, the justification of scientific theories is relative in at least two respects. Whether a specific theory is justified at time t depends both upon the set E of empirical data available at t, and upon the set R of rival theories which are considered by the relevant scientific community at that time. Indeed, a theory is justified at time t if and only if it performs better than its rivals in terms of the accepted criteria for theory choice, and one decisive criterion for theory choice is some version of the criterion of empirical superiority. As a consequence, a theory that is now justified might cease to be justified in the future because of two reasons. New empirical data may top the balance in favour of an existing rival theory, or a new rival theory may be designed that performs better.