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Is coherence conducive to reliability?

Stefan Schubert

pp. 607-621

Abstract

A measure of coherence is said to be reliability conducive if and only if a higher degree of coherence (as measured) of a set of testimonies implies a higher probability that the witnesses are reliable. Recently, it has been proved that the Shogenji measure of coherence is reliability conducive in restricted scenarios (e.g., Olsson and Schubert, Synthese, 157:297–308, 2007). In this article, I investigate whether the Shogenji measure, or any other coherence measure, is reliability conducive in general. An impossibility theorem is proved to the effect that this is not the case. I conclude that coherence is not reliability conducive.

Publication details

Published in:

(2012) Synthese 187 (2).

Pages: 607-621

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-010-9865-5

Full citation:

Schubert Stefan (2012) „Is coherence conducive to reliability?“. Synthese 187 (2), 607–621.