Dellsén, Finnur (2021) An Epistemic Advantage of Accommodation over Prediction. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Many philosophers have argued that a hypothesis is better confirmed by some data if the hypothesis was not specifically designed to fit the data. ‘Prediction’, they argue, is superior to ‘accommodation’. Others deny that there is any epistemic advantage to prediction, and conclude that prediction and accommodation are epistemically on a par. This paper argues that there is a respect in which accommodation is superior to prediction. Specifically, the information that the data was accommodated rather than predicted suggests that the data is less likely to have been manipulated or fabricated, which in turn increases the likelihood that the hypothesis is correct in light of the data. In some cases, this epistemic advantage of accommodation may even outweigh whatever epistemic advantage there might be to prediction, making accommodation epistemically superior to prediction all things considered.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Dellsén, Finnur finnurd@gmail.com 0000-0003-4989-4204
Additional Information:	Forthcoming in Philosophers' Imprint.
Keywords:	accommodation; prediction; uncertain evidence; data fraud
Subjects:	General Issues > Data General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Evidence
Depositing User:	Dr. Finnur Dellsén
Date Deposited:	09 Jul 2021 14:53
Last Modified:	09 Jul 2021 14:53
Item ID:	19298
Subjects:	General Issues > Data General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Evidence
Date:	2021
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19298

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