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(2011) Explanation, prediction, and confirmation, Dordrecht, Springer.
The aim of the present paper is, first, to give an explication of the very phrase "best explanation", and second, to give some suggestions about its methodological use. The explication on offer will be given in terms of two set-theoretical criteria of comparing the relative explanatory power of alternatives. One criterion is designed to compare rival hypotheses put forward in the framework of a fixed background knowledge, the other is designed to compare an original background knowledge with its attempted revision. The proposal will be claimed to resolve the problems of Duhemian variety as well as the incommensurability problem.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-1180-8_5
Full citation:
Grobler, A. (2011)., An explication of the use of inference to the best explanation, in D. Dieks, S. Hartmann, T. Uebel, M. Weber & W. J. González (eds.), Explanation, prediction, and confirmation, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 83-91.
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