Dietrich, Franz and Moretti, Luca (2004) On coherent sets and the transmission of confirmation. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In this paper, we identify a new and mathematically well-defined sense in which the coherence of a set of hypotheses can be truth-conducive. Our focus is not, as usually, on the probability but on the confirmation of a coherent set and its members. We show that, if evidence confirms a hypothesis, confirmation is "transmitted" to any hypotheses that are sufficiently coherent with the former hypothesis, according to some appropriate probabilistic coherence measure such as Olsson’s or Fitelson’s measure. Our findings have implications for scientific methodology, as they provide a formal rationale for the method of indirect confirmation and the method of confirming theories by confirming their parts.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Dietrich, Franz Moretti, Luca
Additional Information:	This paper has been published in PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, 72(3) (July 2005)
Keywords:	Coherence, coherentism, measures of coherence, indirect confirmation, Bayesianism, truth-conduciveness, Fitelson, Olsson, Shogenij
Subjects:	General Issues > Confirmation/Induction
Depositing User:	Luca Moretti
Date Deposited:	18 Sep 2004
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:12
Item ID:	1962
Subjects:	General Issues > Confirmation/Induction
Date:	September 2004
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/1962

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