more on this theme | more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
6: Acceptability of a proposition in a system depends on its coherence with the propositions in that system.
Gist of Idea
6: A proposition's acceptability depends on its coherence with a system
Source
report of Paul Thagard (Explanatory Coherence [1989], 6) by J.J.C. Smart - Explanation - Opening Address p.04
Book Ref
'Explanation and Its Limits', ed/tr. Knowles,Dudley [CUP 1990], p.4
A Reaction
Thagard tried to build an AI system for coherent explanations, but I would say he has no chance with these six axioms, because they never grasp the nettle of what 'coherence' means. You first need rules for how things relate. What things are comparable?