Why solving a crossword puzzle might be the key to true knowledge
In short: In the battle between rigid foundations and endless circular logic, philosopher Susan Haack proposed a third way. By using the metaphor of a crossword, she sought to explain how we justify our beliefs without falling into the traps of infinite regress or mere coincidence.
For decades, epistemology was caught in a deadlock between two extremes: foundationalism, which risks an infinite regress of justifications, and coherentism, which risks the circularity of ideas merely supporting one another. In her 1997 book, Evidence and Inquiry, Susan Haack introduced 'foundherentism' to bridge this gap. She used the analogy of a crossword puzzle to illustrate her point: finding an answer via a specific clue acts like a foundational empirical source, while the necessity of interlocking words being mutually sensible represents the role of coherence.
Haack’s intellectual journey was marked by a fierce independence. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, she studied under luminaries such as Gilbert Ryle and Michael Dummett. She famously avoided philosophical fads, refusing university travel funds and resisting the 'clique' culture of academic publishing. This autonomy allowed her to launch vigorous critiques against prominent thinkers, including a sharp rebuttal of Richard Rorty’s pragmatism and a challenge to the 'non-overlapping magisteria' (NOMA) concept proposed by Stephen Jay Gould.
Her work extended into the defense of scientific inquiry. In her 2003 book, Defending Science – Within Reason, she argued against both extreme scientism and cynicism. She maintained that while science and religion both make claims about the world and human flourishing, they are not separate domains. For Haack, the strength of inquiry lies in robust evidence, transparent review, and the integration of new discoveries into the collective human knowledge base, rather than political or ideological rhetoric.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Susan Haack
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