5391
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Science aims to find uniformities to which (within the limits of experience) there are no exceptions [Russell]
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Full Idea:
The business of science is to find uniformities, such as the laws of motion and the law of gravitation, to which, so far as our experience extends, there are no exceptions.
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From:
Bertrand Russell (Problems of Philosophy [1912], Ch. 6)
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A reaction:
This seems nicely stated, based on the Humean 'regularity' view of scientific laws. When we discover such uniformities (such as the gravitational equation), we are still faced with the metaphysical question of their status. Necessity, or pattern?
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5392
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It doesn't follow that because the future has always resembled the past, that it always will [Russell]
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Full Idea:
We have experience of past futures, but not of future futures, and the question is: Will future futures resemble past futures? This question is not to be answered by an argument which starts from past futures alone.
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From:
Bertrand Russell (Problems of Philosophy [1912], Ch. 6)
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A reaction:
This nicely makes the problem of induction unavoidable, for anyone who preferred not to face the problem. The simple solution is to recognise that the future may NOT resemble the past, for all we know. Actually I think it will, but what was the past like?
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5363
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If the cat reappears in a new position, presumably it has passed through the intermediate positions [Russell]
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Full Idea:
If the cat appears at one moment in one part of the room, and at another in another part, it is natural to suppose that it has moved from the one to the other, passing over a series of intermediate positions.
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From:
Bertrand Russell (Problems of Philosophy [1912], Ch. 2)
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A reaction:
This example seems perfect as an illustration of inference to the best explanation (now called 'abduction'), and that seems to me the absolute key to human knowledge. The cat example is what made me a devotee of Bertrand Russell.
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