Broessel, Peter (2015) On the role of explanatory and systematic power in scientific reasoning. Synthese, 192 (12). pp. 3877-3913. ISSN 1573-0964

Preview

Text IBE Final.pdf Download (397kB) | Preview

Abstract

The paper investigates measures of explanatory power and how to define the inference schema “Inference to the Best Explanation” (IBE). It argues that these measures can also be used to quantify the systematic power of a hypothesis and defines the inference schema “Inference to the Best Systematization” (IBS). It demonstrates that systematic power is a fruitful criterion for theory choice and that IBS is truth-conducive. It also shows that even radical Bayesians must admit that systematic power is an integral component of Bayesian reasoning. Finally, the paper puts the achieved results in perspective with van Fraassen’s famous criticism of IBE.

---

Export/Citation:

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

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Broessel, Peter
Keywords:	Inference to the Best Explanation, Explanatory Power, Rationality, Bayesian Epistemology
Depositing User:	Dr Peter Brössel
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2019 04:02
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2019 04:02
Item ID:	16528
Journal or Publication Title:	Synthese
Publisher:	Springer (Springer Science+Business Media B.V.)
DOI or Unique Handle:	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-015-0870-6?wt_mc=internal.event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst
Date:	2015
Page Range:	pp. 3877-3913
Volume:	192
Number:	12
ISSN:	1573-0964
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16528

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Altmetric.com

Actions (login required)

View Item