Simulation Methods for an Abductive System in Science

We argue that abduction does not work in isolation from other inference mechanisms and illustrate this through an inference scheme designed to evaluate multiple hypotheses. We use game theory to relate the abductive system to actions that produce new information. To enable evaluation of the implicat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFoundations of science Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 37 - 52
Main Authors Addis, T. R., Gooding, D. C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2008
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Computer simulation
Education
Game theory
Inference
Mathematical Logic and Foundations
Methodology of the Social Sciences
Philosophy
Philosophy of Science
Belief
Action
Indifference
Choice
Confidence
Bias
Certainty
Bayes
Prejudice
Receptivity
Flexibility
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Summary:We argue that abduction does not work in isolation from other inference mechanisms and illustrate this through an inference scheme designed to evaluate multiple hypotheses. We use game theory to relate the abductive system to actions that produce new information. To enable evaluation of the implications of this approach we have implemented the procedures used to calculate the impact of new information in a computer model. Experiments with this model display a number of features of collective belief-revision leading to consensus-formation, such as the influence of bias and prejudice. The scheme of inferential calculations invokes a Peircian concept of ‘belief’ as the propensity to choose a particular course of action.
ISSN:1233-1821
1572-8471
DOI:10.1007/s10699-007-9113-8