This paper is a reaction to ‘Styles of Thought on the Continental Drift Debate’ by Pablo Pellegrini, published in this journal. The author argues that rationalist accounts of the continental drift debate fail because they overlook important issues. In this discussion we distinguish various forms of rationalism. Then we present a sophisticated rationalist account of the continental drift debate and argue that it is satisfactory because it explains all the central developments in that debate. Finally, we point to a problematic tension in Pellegrini’s paper and unravel an underlying ambiguity.

中文翻译：

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为大陆漂移辩论的理性主义解释辩护：对佩莱格里尼的回应

这篇论文是对 Pablo Pellegrini 发表在该杂志上的“关于大陆漂移辩论的思想风格”的回应。作者认为，关于大陆漂移辩论的理性主义描述失败了，因为它们忽略了重要问题。在这个讨论中，我们区分了各种形式的理性主义。然后我们对大陆漂移辩论提出了一个复杂的理性主义解释，并认为它是令人满意的，因为它解释了这场辩论的所有核心发展。最后，我们指出 Pellegrini 论文中存在问题的张力并解开潜在的歧义。