Repository logo
  • Log In
    New user? Click here to register.Have you forgotten your password?
University College Dublin
  • Colleges & Schools
  • Statistics
  • All of DSpace
  • Log In
    New user? Click here to register.Have you forgotten your password?
  1. Home
  2. College of Social Sciences and Law
  3. School of Philosophy
  4. Philosophy Research Collection
  5. Reactionary Responses to the Bad Lot Objection
 
  • Details
Options

Reactionary Responses to the Bad Lot Objection

Author(s)
Dellsén, Finnur 
Uri
http://hdl.handle.net/10197/8351
Date Issued
February 2017
Abstract
As it is standardly conceived, Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) is a form of ampliative inference in which one infers a hypothesis because it provides a better potential explanation of one’s evidence than any other available, competing explanatory hypothesis. Bas van Fraassen famously objected to IBE thus formulated that we may have no reason to think that any of the available, competing explanatory hypotheses are true. While revisionary responses to the Bad Lot Objection concede that IBE needs to be reformulated in light of this problem, reactionary responses argue that the Bad Lot Objection is fallacious, incoherent, or misguided. This paper shows that the most influential reactionary responses to the Bad Lot Objection do nothing to undermine the original objection. This strongly suggests that proponents of IBE should focus their efforts on revisionary responses, i.e. on finding a more sophisticated characterization of IBE for which the Bad Lot Objection loses its bite.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A
Volume
61
Start Page
32
End Page
40
Keywords
  • Inference to the Best...

  • Underconsideration

  • Ranking of theories

  • Inductive cogency

  • Bad Lot Objection

DOI
10.1016/j.shpsa.2017.01.005
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/
Owning collection
Philosophy Research Collection
Scopus© citations
7
Acquisition Date
May 31, 2023
View Details
Views
1182
Acquisition Date
May 31, 2023
View Details
Downloads
208
Last Week
3
Last Month
10
Acquisition Date
May 31, 2023
View Details
google-scholar
University College Dublin Research Repository UCD
The Library, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4
Phone: +353 (0)1 716 7583
Fax: +353 (0)1 283 7667
Email: mailto:research.repository@ucd.ie
Guide: http://libguides.ucd.ie/rru

Built with DSpace-CRIS software - Extension maintained and optimized by 4Science

  • Cookie settings
  • Privacy policy
  • End User Agreement