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Single Idea 4807
[filed under theme 14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 4. Prediction
]
Full Idea
There can be predictions without explanations, as when a barometer successfully predicts storms, but on its own it does not explain them.
Gist of Idea
A good barometer will predict a storm, but not explain it
Source
Stathis Psillos (Causation and Explanation [2002], §8.8)
Book Ref
Psillos,Stathis: 'Causation and Explanation' [Acumen 2002], p.236
A Reaction
Actually, barometers contribute to explanations. A reasonable predictor might offer no explanation ('if he's out, she's probably out too'), but an infallible predictor is almost certain to involve causation, which helps a lot in explanation.
The
18 ideas
with the same theme
[predicting events as support for a theory]:
12738
|
Successful prediction shows proficiency in nature
[Leibniz]
|
22179
|
Explanatory facts also predict, and predictive facts also explain
[Hempel, by Okasha]
|
13054
|
Correlations can provide predictions, but only causes can give explanations
[Salmon]
|
18960
|
Most predictions are uninteresting, and are only sought in order to confirm a theory
[Putnam]
|
8057
|
Unpredictability doesn't entail inexplicability, and predictability doesn't entail explicability
[MacIntyre]
|
17087
|
The 'symmetry thesis' says explanation and prediction only differ pragmatically
[Ruben]
|
16856
|
It is more impressive that relativity predicted Mercury's orbit than if it had accommodated it
[Lipton]
|
16857
|
Predictions are best for finding explanations, because mere accommodations can be fudged
[Lipton]
|
5340
|
Explanation does not entail prediction
[Flanagan]
|
17374
|
The possibility of prediction rests on determinism
[Dupré]
|
4807
|
A good barometer will predict a storm, but not explain it
[Psillos]
|
4808
|
If we say where Mars was two months ago, we offer an explanation without a prediction
[Psillos]
|
6757
|
Explanation predicts after the event; prediction explains before the event
[Bird]
|
18698
|
Predictions give the 'content' of theories, which can then be 'equivalent' or 'adequate'
[Button]
|
14916
|
What matters is whether a theory can predict - not whether it actually does so
[Ladyman/Ross]
|
14915
|
The theory of evolution was accepted because it explained, not because of its predictions
[Ladyman/Ross]
|
17405
|
If a theory can be fudged, so can observations
[Scerri]
|
19737
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A system can infer the structure of the world by making predictions about it
[New Sci.]
|