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Inference to the best explanation / Peter Lipton.

By: Lipton, Peter, 1954-2007.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookSeries: Philosophical issues in science: Publisher: London ; New York : Routledge, 1991Description: x, 194 p. ; 23 cm.ISBN: 0415058864.Subject(s): Science -- Philosophy | Science -- Methodology | Inference | ExplanationDDC classification: 153.432
Contents:
Induction -- Explanation -- The causal model -- Inference to the best explanation -- Constrastive inference -- The raven paradox -- Loveliness and inference -- Prediction and prejudice -- Truth and explanation.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Barcode
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 153.432 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00156262
Total holds: 0

Bibliography: (pages190-192) and index.

Induction -- Explanation -- The causal model -- Inference to the best explanation -- Constrastive inference -- The raven paradox -- Loveliness and inference -- Prediction and prejudice -- Truth and explanation.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition Introduction
  • 1 Induction Underdetermination Justification Description
  • 2 Explanation Understanding Explanation Reason, Familiarity, Deduction, Unification, Necessity
  • 3 The Causal Model Fact and Foil Failed Reductions and False Differences Causal Triangulation
  • 4 Inference to the Best Explanation Spelling out the Slogan Attractions and Repulsions
  • 5 Contrastive Inference A Case Study Explanation and Deduction
  • 6 The Raven Paradox Unsuitable Contrasts The Method of Agreement
  • 7 Bayesian Abduction The Bayesian Approach The Explanationist and the Bayesian should be Friends Contrastive Inference Revisited
  • 8 Explanation as a Guide to Inference The Guiding Claim Improved Coverage Explanatory Obsessions From Cause to Explanation
  • 9 Loveliness and Truth Voltaire's Objection The Two Stage Process Is the Best Good Enough?
  • 10 Prediction and Prejudice The Puzzle The Fudging Explanation Actual and Assessed Support
  • 11 Truth and Explanation Circularity A Bad Explanation The Scientific Evidence
  • Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

An ambitious book. Lipton (Cambridge University) works his way through such controversial topics as why-explanation, inference to the best explanation, and the justification of induction. It is to his credit that he has something interesting to say on all of these topics. For instance, he says that an explanation can be considered best either by being "loveliest" (explaining the most things in the greatest detail) or "likeliest" (most likely to be true). Inferences to the best explanation amount to the claim that the loveliest explanation is also the likeliest. Lipton mounts a plausible defense of this against Bas C. van Fraassen and others, aided by a previous discussion of contrastive why-explanation (why P is true rather than Q). The main problem of the book is that it seldom moves much beyond the level of informal suggestion. For example, Lipton neither offers a comprehensive analysis of contrastive explanation nor indicates how his view of it compares to Bas C. van Fraassen's analysis in The Scientific Image (CH, Jun'81). On the other hand, the book is written in a nontechnical way to make it widely accessible, even to undergraduates. Recommended for libraries that maintain a collection on philosophy of science.-D. Temple, Roosevelt University