Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Philosophy of Science: Very Short Intro (2nd ed)' and 'The Making of a Philosopher'

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2 ideas

14. Science / C. Induction / 1. Induction
Induction is inferences from examined to unexamined instances of a given kind [Okasha]
     Full Idea: Some philosophers use 'inductive' to just mean not deductive, …but we reserve it for inferences from examined to unexamined instances of a given kind.
     From: Samir Okasha (Philosophy of Science: Very Short Intro (2nd ed) [2016], 2)
     A reaction: The instances must at least be comparable. Must you know the kind before you start? Surely you can examine a sequence of things, trying to decide whether or not they are of one kind? Is checking the uniformity of a kind induction?
14. Science / C. Induction / 6. Bayes's Theorem
If the rules only concern changes of belief, and not the starting point, absurd views can look ratiional [Okasha]
     Full Idea: If the only objective constraints concern how we should change our credences, but what our initial credences should be is entirely subjective, then individuals with very bizarre opinions about the world will count as perfectly rational.
     From: Samir Okasha (Philosophy of Science: Very Short Intro (2nd ed) [2016], 2)
     A reaction: The important rationality has to be the assessement of a diverse batch of evidence, for which there can never be any rules or mathematics.