Inescapable Error

Journal title PARADIGMI
Author/s Nicholas Rescher
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/2
Language Italian Pages 9 P. 15-23 File size 64 KB
DOI 10.3280/PARA2015-002003
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The prospect of error is ubiquitous and pervasive for while questions usually have only one correct answer, there is generally the prospect of endlessly many incorrect ones. In matters of high theory there is unquestionably also high precision - the value of π can be calculated to a zillion decimal places. But in practice precision always has its limits. We live in a world of continuities: of differences in degree and gradual transitions. At the same time we ourselves are creatures of decision whose actions are subject to choices requiring a binary "go/no-go" resolution. We impose dualities upon reality’s multiplicities. This discrepancy between nature and human contrivance has substantial implications in via the tensions it creates between objective realities and human arrangements. .

Keywords: Dualities, error, imperfectability, informativeness, precision, reliability.

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Nicholas Rescher, Inescapable Error in "PARADIGMI" 2/2015, pp 15-23, DOI: 10.3280/PARA2015-002003