Dizadji-Bahmani, Foad and Frigg, Roman and Hartmann, Stephan (2010) Confirmation and Reduction: A Bayesian Account. [Preprint]

Preview

PDF ConfRed_final.pdf Download (349kB)

Abstract

Various scientific theories stand in a reductive relation to each other. In a recent article, we have argued that a generalized version of the Nagel-Schaffner model (GNS) is the right account of this relation. In this article, we present a Bayesian analysis of how GNS impacts on confirmation. We formalize the relation between the reducing and the reduced theory before and after the reduction using Bayesian networks, and thereby show that, post-reduction, the two theories are confirmatory of each other. We then ask when a purported reduction should be accepted on epistemic grounds. To do so, we compare the prior and posterior probabilities of the conjunction of both theories before and after the reduction and ask how well each is confirmed by the available evidence.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Dizadji-Bahmani, Foad Frigg, Roman Hartmann, Stephan s.hartmann@lmu.de 0000-0001-8676-2177
Additional Information:	The paper will appear in Synthese.
Keywords:	Reduction, confirmation, Bayesianism
Subjects:	General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User:	Stephan Hartmann
Date Deposited:	30 Apr 2010
Last Modified:	12 Jul 2024 17:28
Item ID:	5324
Subjects:	General Issues > Confirmation/Induction General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date:	April 2010
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/5324

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item