Single Idea 7450

[catalogued under 13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 3. Evidentialism / a. Evidence]

Full Idea

In the medieval view, evidence short of deduction was not really evidence at all.

Gist of Idea

In the medieval view, only deduction counted as true evidence

Source

Ian Hacking (The Emergence of Probability [1975], Ch.3)

Book Reference

Hacking,Ian: 'The Emergence of Probability' [CUP 1975], p.22


A Reaction

Hacking says the modern concept of evidence comes with probability in the 17th century. That might make it one of the most important ideas ever thought of, allowing us to abandon certainties and live our lives in a more questioning way.