Responding to Hume and Developing a Theory of Weak Coherence
A comprehensive response to Hume's problem of induction that argues for the ontological necessity of inductive capacity. The work challenges traditional demands for rational justification by demonstrating that induction is constitutive of the kind of creatures we are.
Developing a novel epistemological framework that occupies the space between strong logical necessity and arbitrary convention. Weak coherence provides multi-layered pragmatic grounding that admits its own groundlessness while explaining durability.
A comprehensive response to Hume's problem of induction that argues for the ontological necessity of inductive capacity. The work challenges the traditional demand for rational justification by demonstrating that induction is constitutive of the kind of creatures we are—semantically, practically, and biologically.
Developing a novel epistemological framework that occupies the space between strong logical necessity and arbitrary convention. Weak coherence provides multi-layered pragmatic grounding that admits its own groundlessness while explaining the durability of our epistemic practices.
Investigating the relationship between evolutionary fitness and epistemic truth, arguing that the standard distinction between them collapses for empiricists. The work explores how evolution functions as a truth-tracking mechanism while acknowledging its limitations and domain-specificity.
Inductive capacity predates human cognition by 500+ million years, making philosophical demands for justification a category mistake. We evolved to track patterns before we evolved to reflect on pattern-tracking.
Language presupposes inductive continuity of reference. Without induction, meaning itself dissolves, making communication impossible. This reveals the ontological stakes of inductive commitment.
All action presupposes pattern-continuity. Deliberation requires assumptions about future resembling past. Without induction, agency becomes impossible, revealing the practical necessity of inductive reasoning.
Autonomic processes are inductive engines. Homeostasis depends on pattern-tracking. Without induction, rapid organismic failure occurs, demonstrating the biological foundation of inductive capacity.
A detailed analysis of why opting out of inductive reasoning constitutes semantic, practical, and biological annihilation. This project explores the totalization of inductive commitment and argues that we are ontologically constituted as inductive beings.
Comprehensive engagement with the evolutionary epistemology tradition (Lorenz, Campbell, Quine) and contemporary critics (Norton, Sober, Plantinga). Positioning the weak coherence approach as distinct from both justification and mere explanation.
Exploring the Heideggerian parallel to Being-in-the-world, arguing that induction functions as existential structure rather than epistemic method. This work examines the impossibility of the view from nowhere and the constitutive circularity of reflection.
Contribution: Problem of induction, custom and habit
Relationship: Primary interlocutor and target of response
Contribution: Naturalized epistemology, evolutionary considerations
Relationship: Closest predecessor, but goes deeper ontologically
Contribution: Being-in-the-world, existential structures
Relationship: Phenomenological framework for constitutive analysis
Contribution: Deconstructive analysis, linguistic economy
Relationship: Methodological approach to unbacked linguistic checks
Contribution: Evolutionary epistemology, a priori categories
Relationship: Evolutionary foundation, but extends beyond justification
Contribution: Blind variation and selective retention
Relationship: Evolutionary process analysis, but adds existential dimension
Interested in discussing these philosophical arguments or collaborating on related research? The work spans epistemology, philosophy of science, evolutionary psychology, and contemporary continental philosophy.
© 2025 Wesley Ladd. All rights reserved.
Last updated: 3/3/2026