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10Ibe and ebi: On explanation before inferenceIn Johannes Persson & Petri Ylikoski (eds.), Rethinking Explanation, Springer. 2007.Inference to the best explanation is theoretically interesting in that it promises to throw new light on what an explanation is. IBE challenges the standard view of the relation between inference and explanation. But sometimes it seems that previous explanation is more independent of inference than IBE suggests. Sometimes we have explanation before inference which is not IBE. This chapter examines the possibility that the latter is the rule rather than the exception.
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9The interdisciplinary decision problem : Popperian optimism and Kuhnian pessimism in forestryEcology and Society 23 (3). 2018.Interdisciplinary research in the fields of forestry and sustainability studies often encounters seemingly incompatible ontological assumptions deriving from natural and social sciences. The perceived incompatibilities might emerge from the epistemological and ontological claims of the theories or models directly employed in the interdisciplinary collaboration, or they might be created by other epistemological and ontological assumptions that these interdisciplinary researchers find no reason to…Read more
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9Social laws should be conceived as a special case of mechanisms : A reply to Daniel LittleSocial Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 1 (7): 12-14. 2012.I am grateful to Daniel Little for his insightful reply to my recent article in Social Epistemology about what appears to be a flaw in Jon Elster’s conception of mechanisms. I agree with much of what Little says, but want to amplify a different underlying problem with Elster’s conception than Little suggests in his reply. This underlying problem connects nicely with a passage in Little’s reply, which he thinks unconnected with the point on which I focus.
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9Harnessing local knowledge for scientific knowledge production : challenges and pitfalls within evidence-based sustainability studiesEcology and Society 23 (4). 2018.The calls for evidence-based public policy making have increased dramatically in the last decades, and so has the interest in evidence-based sustainability studies. But questions remain about what “evidence” actually means in different contexts and if the concept travels well between different domains of application. Some of the most relevant questions asked by sustainability studies are not, and in some cases cannot be, directly answered by relying on research evidence of the kinds favored by t…Read more
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7This paper is an attempt to further our understanding of mechanisms conceived of as ontologically separable from laws. What opportunities are there for a mechanistic perspective to be independent of, or even more fundamental than, a law perspective?
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7Problem-Feeding as a Model for Interdisciplinary ResearchInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 36 (1): 39-59. 2022.Philosophers of science have in recent years become increasingly interested in the notion of interdisciplinarity. One important form interdisciplinarity can take is that of a dynamic exchange of problems and solutions between disciplines—what has recently been called problem-feeding. On this model problems arising within specific disciplines are sometimes solved more effectively by, or in collaboration with, other disciplines. In this paper we explore this model as a framework for thinking about…Read more
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6Conclusiveness resolves the conflict between quality of evidence and imprecision in GRADEJournal of Clinical Epidemiology 75 1-5. 2016.The objective of our article is to show how “quality of evidence” and “imprecision,” as they are defined in Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation articles, may lead to confusion. We focus only on the context of systematic reviews.
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2Social mechanisms and explaining how : A reply to Kimberly ChuangSocial Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 1 (9): 37-41. 2012.Kimberly Chuang’s detailed and very helpful reply to my article concerns Jon Elster’s struggle to develop a mechanistic account that sheds light on explanation in social science. I argue that a problem exists with Elster’s current conception of mechanistic explanation in social contexts. Chuang defends Elster’s conception against my critique. I still believe I have identified a problem with Elster’s conception. In this reply I want to recapitulate briefly Elster’s idea, as I understand it, and t…Read more
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics |
General Philosophy of Science |