Editing Philosophical methodology (section)

=== Transcendental method ===
The transcendental method ({{langx|de|Transzendentale Methodenlehre}}) is used to study phenomena by reflecting on the [[conditions of possibility]] of these phenomena.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gerhart] |first1=M. |title=New Catholic Encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/transcendental-method |chapter=TRANSCENDENTAL METHOD}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Luft |first1=Sebastian |title=The Space of Culture |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-873884-8 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198738848.001.0001/acprof-9780198738848-chapter-2 |chapter=Hermann Cohen: The Transcendental Method and Philosophy as a Foundational Science (Grundlegungswissenschaft) of Culture}}</ref><ref name="MeinerMethode"/> This method usually starts out with an obvious fact, often about our [[Mental state|mental life]], such as what we know or [[experience]]. It then goes on to argue that for this fact to obtain, other facts also have to obtain: they are its [[conditions of possibility]]. This type of argument is called "[[transcendental argument]]": it argues that these additional assumptions also have to be true because otherwise, the initial fact would not be the case.<ref name="StanfordTranscendental"/><ref name="IEPTranscendental"/><ref>{{cite web |title=transcendental argument |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/transcendental-argument |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=23 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref> For example, it has been used to argue for the existence of an external world based on the premise that the experience of the temporal order of our mental states would not be possible otherwise.<ref name="StanfordTranscendental"/> Another example argues in favor of a description of nature in terms of concepts such as motion, force, and causal interaction based on the claim that an objective account of nature would not be possible otherwise.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=DiSalle |first1=Robert |title=The transcendental method from Newton to Kant |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A |date=1 September 2013 |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=448–456 |doi=10.1016/j.shpsa.2012.10.006 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039368112000817 |language=en |issn=0039-3681}}</ref>

Transcendental arguments have faced various challenges. On the one hand, the claim that the belief in a certain assumption is necessary for the experience of a certain entity is often not obvious. So in the example above, critics can argue against the transcendental argument by denying the claim that an external world is necessary for the experience of the temporal order of our mental states. But even if this point is granted, it does not guarantee that the assumption itself is true. So even if the belief in a given proposition is a psychological necessity for a certain experience, it does not automatically follow that this belief itself is true. Instead, it could be the case that humans are just wired in such a way that they have to believe in certain false assumptions.<ref name="StanfordTranscendental">{{cite web |last1=Stern |first1=Robert |title=Transcendental Arguments |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendental-arguments/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=23 February 2022 |date=2021}}</ref><ref name="IEPTranscendental">{{cite web |last1=Bardon |first1=Adrian |title=Transcendental Arguments |url=https://iep.utm.edu/trans-ar/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref>