I show that van Fraassen's empiricism leads to mutually incompatible c
laims with regard to empirical theories. He is committed to the claim
that reasons for accepting a theory and believing it are always identi
cal, insofar as the theory in question is an empirical theory. He also
makes a general claim that reasons for accepting a theory are not alw
ays reasons for believing it irrespective of whether the theory is an
empirical theory.