Two major themes in Rescher's metaphilosophical writings are "philosophical standardism" and "orientational pluralism." Philosophical standardism urges that we retreat from making universalistic claims for our philosophical theses and, instead, understand them as "stating how matters stand 'normally' or 'as a rule'." Orientational pluralism is Rescher's attempt to acknowledge the inevitability of pluralism in philosophical method and practice without reverting to relativism. I critically consider both philosophical standardism and orientational pluralism and offer "metaphilosophical evidentialism" as an alternative to the latter.
