Testing Inference to the Best Explanation

Inference to the Best Explanation has become the subject of a lively debate in the philosophy of science. Scientific realists maintain, while scientific antirealists deny, that it is a compelling rule of inference. It seems that any attempt to settle this debate empirically must beg the question aga...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSynthese (Dordrecht) Vol. 130; no. 3; pp. 355 - 377
Main Author Douven, Igor
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers 01.03.2002
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Antirealism
Bootstrapping
Empirical adequacy
Empiricism
Epistemology. Philosophy of science. Theory of knowledge
Hypotheses
Inference
Microscopes
Microscopy
Philosophical realism
Philosophy
Philosophy of science
Realism
Scientific realism
Test theory
Theory
Truth
Netherlands
Microscope
Antirealism
Van Fraassen (B. C.)
Explanation
Empiricism
Glymour (C.)
Realism
Inference
Hacking (I.)
Method
Confirmation
Hypothesis
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Summary:Inference to the Best Explanation has become the subject of a lively debate in the philosophy of science. Scientific realists maintain, while scientific antirealists deny, that it is a compelling rule of inference. It seems that any attempt to settle this debate empirically must beg the question against the antirealist. The present paper argues that this impression is misleading. A method is described that, by combining Glymour's theory of bootstrapping and Hacking's arguments from microscopy, allows us to test IBE without begging any antirealist issues.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 14
ISSN:0039-7857
1573-0964
DOI:10.1023/A:1014859910339