Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [abduction]

16 questions
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Epistemic value of multiple eyewitness accounts: single event vs. multiple events given a fixed number of eyewitnesses?

Intuitively speaking, multiple independent eyewitness accounts of a single event are more convincing than a single eyewitness account. For example, multiple independent eyewitness accounts of a loud explosion in a remote area (e.g. from different…
user48437
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What is the relation between abductive reasoning and fallacy?

According to WP's article on abductive reasoning: [A]bduction is formally equivalent to the logical fallacy of affirming the consequent [citation needed] because of multiple possible explanations for b. Is abductive reasoning necessarily a logical…
quanity
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Are extraordinary first-hand subjective accounts more likely to be true the more people report the same experience?

For illustrative purposes, let's take as an example the following claim X = "I went to sleep, but then I suddenly woke up at 3:00 a.m. feeling a terrifying evil presence, and then my bed began to shake violently" (real life examples: 1, 2). X is…
user48437
3
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3 answers

How likely is the simplest explanation of something the correct one?

When assuming how something is the way it is, you choose the simplest explanation. But what is the chance of this actually being the explanation? For example, say a cucumber randomly appeared on the ground. After your initial shock, you would try to…
4117
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What did evolutionary epistemology discover about our tendency to guess right abductively?

C.S. Peirce wrote: "[...] if the universe conforms, with any approach to accuracy, to certain highly pervasive laws, and if man's mind has been developed under the influence of those laws, it is to be expected that he should have a natural light, or…
Mogli
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Justification for the paradigm of abductive reasoning

In Chance , Love and Logic, Peirce defines reasoning into two categories: analytic and non-analytic. All forms of reasoning have three fundamental components: rule, case, result. Analytic reasoning is deduction, and is the specific structure of…
nyke
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How is it determined which explanation is simpler?

One of the criteria of IBE is simplicity. How to determine which explanation is simpler if there are two types of simplicity: one type counts the number of hearings, and the other type counts the number of explanations. If one explanation has fewer…
Johnny5454
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Please clarify this answer about the argument

I did not understand how this argument should sound. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#BestExpl The article reads as follows: On this way of thinking, mental states are taken to be inner states of an individual that provide the best…
Robert Antoni
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Trying to understand the fallacy in my inductive reasoning regarding this conclusion?

Consider the following statements: Anna told you she failed her physics midterm. Anna hasn't been in physics class since the teacher graded the exams. Anna has been in sociology class, which meets right after physics. Can we not reach the…
gpuguy
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What does the IBE argument (the best explanation argument) look like in favor of the existence of other minds?

I have read several versions of the IBE argument for the existence of other minds. But I got a little confused. Now I'm not sure I know what it should sound like. How should the IBE argument (argument of the best explanation) sound in favor of the…
Johnny5454
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How does the IBE arrive at the best explanation?

What is meant by the behavior of other people in argument? Here it is said that the simplicity of the explanation is decisive in choosing the best explanation. Solipsism has fewer entities(only my mind), so why isn't it simpler explanation?
Johnny5454
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Is the simpler explanation is the most likely, the most convincing and the most plausible?

Is the simpler explanation is the most likely, the most convincing and the most plausible? Occam's razor and abduction, on which inference to the best explanation is based, say that the simplest hypothesis is true. So it turns out that solipsism is…
Arti
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Defeasible reasoning

a. If x is a weekday, Xena goes to work on day x. b. If Xena is ill, she doesn’t go to work that day. c.2 Jan ‘07 was a weekday. d. Xena was ill on 2 Jan. '07. e. By (a) and (c), Xena went to work on 2 Jan ‘07. f. By (b) and (d), Xena didn’t go to…
quanity
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Non-Deductive methods in philosophical argumentation

I'm a mathematician, and I'm trying to expand my understanding of the philosophical basis of mathematics. Mathematics is very much taught axiomatically establishing deductive theories, but philosophy seems to suggest that there are additional ways…
Wakem
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Meaning of falsification in different context

What is the meaning of devil's advocate. Is it same as falsification/falsifiability ? Can we use falsifiability/falsification for abductive reasoning ?
quanity
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