Principle of Sufficient Reason and Explicability Arguments

Ulrich Meyer (Colgate University)

Abstract: The Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR) used to be a mainstay of rationalism and was routinely rejected by empiricists. While it was sidelined for much of the twentieth century, recent years have witnessed a remarkable revival of this principle. Much of this resurgence is due to an influential paper by Michael Della Rocca (Philosophers’ Imprint, 2010), who argues that PSR lurks behind numerous {\em explicability arguments} accepted by empiricists. This talk aims to refute Della Rocca's argument and advocates for the (continued) rejection of PSR.