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There is No Such Thing As A Statistical Explanation

Woodward, James There is No Such Thing As A Statistical Explanation. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

This paper argues that there are no such things as statistical explanations, understood as explanations of the occurrence of individual outcomes or collections of these by an appeal to the probability of their occurence, where this probability is less than one. This claim contravenes the prevailing orthdoxy, which begins with philosophers like Hempel and Salmon and extends to the present (Strevens, Clatterbuck) that there are such explanations, the only issue being the requirements they must satisfy. A variety of different considerations are advanced in support of my non-existence claim. Along the way some issues having to do with inference to the best explanation and the role of explanation as a goal of inquiry are discussed.


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Item Type: Other
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Woodward, Jamesjfw@pitt.edu
Keywords: statistical explanation, high probability requirement, inference to the best explanation.
Subjects: General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Explanation
Depositing User: Jim Woodward
Date Deposited: 24 Oct 2022 18:31
Last Modified: 24 Oct 2022 18:31
Item ID: 21300
Subjects: General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Explanation
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21300

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