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Full Idea
Inference to the best explanation cannot be epistemically effective, since an actual explanation must be true, so one would have to know the truth before one could infer an explanation.
Gist of Idea
Best explanation can't be a guide to truth, because the truth must precede explanation
Source
Peter Lipton (Inference to the Best Explanation (2nd) [2004], 09 'Voltaire's')
Book Ref
Lipton,Peter: 'Inference to the Best Explanation (2nd ed)' [Routledge 2004], p.147
A Reaction
Lipton rests on 'contrastive' explanation, so that the one that explains more is more likely to be true. If true, it explains. That seems to me correct, even though it could occasionally go horribly wrong. Approach explanation cautiously.
| 21386 | We should accept as explanations all the plausible ways in which something could come about [Epicurus] |
| 12769 | Inference to best explanation contains all sorts of hidden values [Fraassen] |
| 6784 | Why should the true explanation be one of the few we have actually thought of? [Fraassen, by Bird] |
| 16183 | In science, best explanations have regularly turned out to be false [Cartwright,N] |
| 16821 | Must we only have one explanation, and must all the data be made relevant? [Lipton] |
| 16838 | Bayesians say best explanations build up an incoherent overall position [Lipton] |
| 16855 | The best theory is boring: compare 'all planets move elliptically' with 'most of them do' [Lipton] |
| 16852 | Best explanation can't be a guide to truth, because the truth must precede explanation [Lipton] |
| 3113 | The success and virtue of an explanation do not guarantee its truth [Segal] |
| 6788 | Maybe bad explanations are the true ones, in this messy world [Bird] |
| 6787 | Which explanation is 'best' is bound to be subjective, and no guide to truth [Bird] |