15,351 research outputs found
There Is No Pure Empirical Reasoning
The justificatory force of empirical reasoning always depends upon the existence of some synthetic, a priori justification. The reasoner must begin with justified, substantive constraints on both the prior probability of the conclusion and certain conditional probabilities; otherwise, all possible degrees of belief in the conclusion are left open given the premises. Such constraints cannot in general be empirically justified, on pain of infinite regress. Nor does subjective Bayesianism offer a way out for the empiricist. Despite often-cited convergence theorems, subjective Bayesians cannot hold that any empirical hypothesis is ever objectively justified in the relevant sense. Rationalism is thus the only alternative to an implausible skepticism
On the role of explanatory and systematic power in scientific reasoning
The paper investigates measures of explanatory power and how to define the inference schema âInference to the Best Explanationâ. It argues that these measures can also be used to quantify the systematic power of a hypothesis and the inference schema âInference to the Best Systematizationâ is defined. It demonstrates that systematic power is a fruitful criterion for theory choice and IBS is truth-conducive. It also shows that even radical Bayesians must admit that systemic power is an integral component of Bayesian reasoning. Finally, the paper puts the achieved results in perspective with van Fraassenâs famous criticism of IB
Whatâs so bad about scientism?
In their attempt to defend philosophy from accusations of uselessness made by prominent scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, some philosophers respond with the charge of âscientism.â This charge makes endorsing a scientistic stance, a mistake by definition. For this reason, it begs the question against these critics of philosophy, or anyone who is inclined to endorse a scientistic stance, and turns the scientism debate into a verbal dispute. In this paper, I propose a different definition of scientism, and thus a new way of looking at the scientism debate. Those philosophers who seek to defend philosophy against accusations of uselessness would do philosophy a much better service, I submit, if they were to engage with the definition of scientism put forth in this paper, rather than simply make it analytic that scientism is a mistake
Reichenbach, Russell and the Metaphysics of Induction
Hans Reichenbachâs pragmatic treatment of the problem of induction in his later works on inductive inference was, and still is, of great interest. However, it has been dismissed as a pseudo-solution and it has been regarded as problematically obscure. This is, in large part, due to the difficulty in understanding exactly what Reichenbachâs solution is supposed to amount to, especially as it appears to offer no response to the inductive skeptic. For entirely different reasons, the significance of Bertrand Russellâs classic attempt to solve Humeâs problem is also both obscure and controversial. Russell accepted that Humeâs reasoning about induction was basically correct, but he argued that given the centrality of induction in our cognitive endeavors something must be wrong with Humeâs basic assumptions. What Russell effectively identified as Humeâs (and Reichenbachâs) failure was the commitment to a purely extensional empiricism. So, Russellâs solution to the problem of induction was to concede extensional empiricism and to accept that induction is grounded by accepting both a robust essentialism and a form of rationalism that allowed for a priori knowledge of universals.
So, neither of those doctrines is without its critics. On the one hand, Reichenbachâs solution faces the charges of obscurity and of offering no response to the inductive skeptic. On the other hand, Russellâs solution looks to be objectionably ad hoc absent some non-controversial and independent argument that the universals that are necessary to ground the uniformity of nature actually exist and are knowable. This particular charge is especially likely to arise from those inclined towards purely extensional forms of empiricism. In this paper the significance of Reichenbachâs solution to the problem of induction will be made clearer via the comparison of these two historically important views about the problem of induction. The modest but important contention that will be made here is that the comparison of Reichenbachâs and Russellâs solutions calls attention to the opposition between extensional and intensional metaphysical presuppositions in the context of attempts to solve the problem of induction. It will be show that, in effect, what Reichenbach does is to establish an important epistemic limitation of extensional empiricism. So, it will be argued here that there is nothing really obscure about Reichenbachâs thoughts on induction at all. He was simply working out the limits of extensional empiricism with respect to inductive inference in opposition to the sort of metaphysics favored by Russell and like-minded thinkers
Reinventing grounded theory: some questions about theory, ground and discovery
Grounded theoryâs popularity persists after three decades of broad-ranging critique. In this article three problematic notions are discussedââtheory,â âgroundâ and âdiscoveryââwhich linger in the continuing use and development of grounded theory procedures. It is argued that far from providing the epistemic security promised by grounded theory, these notionsâembodied in continuing reinventions of grounded theoryâconstrain and distort qualitative inquiry, and that what is contrived is not in fact theory in any meaningful sense, that âgroundâ is a misnomer when talking about interpretation and that what ultimately materializes following grounded theory procedures is less like discovery and more akin to invention. The procedures admittedly provide signposts for qualitative inquirers, but educational researchers should be wary, for the significance of interpretation, narrative and reflection can be undermined in the procedures of grounded theory
Epistemological Realism and Onto-Relations
The traditional concept of knowledge is a justified true belief. The bulk of contemporary epistemology has focused primarily on that task of justification. Truth seems to be a quite obvious criterionâdoes the belief in question correspond to reality? My contention is that the aspect of ontology is far too separated from epistemology. This onto-relationship of between reality and beliefs require the epistemic method of epistemological realism. This is not to diminish the task of justification. I will then discuss the role of inference from the onto-relationships of free invention and discovery and whether it is best suited for a foundationalist or coherentist model within a theistic context
Kevin McCain and Ted Postonâs Best Explanations
In this critical notice, I focus my attention on the chapters that deal with the explanationist response to skepticism
To P or not to P: on the evidential nature of P-values and their place in scientific inference
The customary use of P-values in scientific research has been attacked as
being ill-conceived, and the utility of P-values has been derided. This paper
reviews common misconceptions about P-values and their alleged deficits as
indices of experimental evidence and, using an empirical exploration of the
properties of P-values, documents the intimate relationship between P-values
and likelihood functions. It is shown that P-values quantify experimental
evidence not by their numerical value, but through the likelihood functions
that they index. Many arguments against the utility of P-values are refuted and
the conclusion is drawn that P-values are useful indices of experimental
evidence. The widespread use of P-values in scientific research is well
justified by the actual properties of P-values, but those properties need to be
more widely understood.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures and R cod
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