The material theory of induction / / John D. Norton.

• VerfasserIn: Norton, John D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Calgary, Alberta : : University of Calgary Press,, 2021.
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: BSPS open series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (680 pages).

"The inaugural title in the new, Open Access series BSPS Open, The Material Theory of Induction will initiate a new tradition in the analysis of inductive inference. The fundamental burden of a theory of inductive inference is to determine which are the good inductive inferences or relations of inductive support and why it is that they are so. The traditional approach is modeled on that taken in accounts of deductive inference. It seeks universally applicable schemas or rules or a single formal device, such as the probability calculus. After millennia of halting efforts, none of these approaches has been unequivocally successful and debates between approaches persist. The Material Theory of Induction identifies the source of these enduring problems in the assumption taken at the outset: that inductive inference can be accommodated by a single formal account with universal applicability. Instead, it argues that that there is no single, universally applicable formal account. Rather, each domain has an inductive logic native to it. Which that is, and its extent, is determined by the facts prevailing in that domain. Paying close attention to how inductive inference is conducted in science and copiously illustrated with real-world examples, The Material Theory of Induction will initiate a new tradition in the analysis of inductive inference."-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Front Matter(pp. i-iv) -- Preface(pp. v-viii) -- Table of Contents(pp. ix-xii) -- Prolog(pp. 1-18) -- 1 The Material Theory of Induction Stated and Illustrated(pp. 19-54) -- 2 What Powers Inductive Inference?(pp. 55-88) -- 3 Replicability of Experiment(pp. 89-118) -- 4 Analogy(pp. 119-152) -- 5 Epistemic Virtues and Epistemic Values: A Skeptical Critique(pp. 153-172) -- 6 Simplicity as a Surrogate(pp. 173-222) -- 7 Simplicity in Model Selection(pp. 223-246) -- 8 Inference to the Best Explanation: The General Account(pp. 247-272) -- 9 Inference to the Best Explanation: Examples(pp. 273-334) -- 9 Inference to the Best Explanation: Examples(pp. 273-334) -- 11 Circularity in the Scoring Rule Vindication of Probabilities(pp. 387-434) -- 12 No Place to Stand: The Incompleteness of All Calculi of Inductive Inference(pp. 435-468) -- 12 No Place to Stand: The Incompleteness of All Calculi of Inductive Inference(pp. 435-468) -- 14 Uncountable Problems(pp. 519-572) -- 15 Indeterministic Physical Systems(pp. 573-612) -- 16 A Quantum Inductive Logic(pp. 613-652) -- Epilog(pp. 653-656) -- Index(pp. 657-668) -- Back Matter(pp. 669-669).