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266The plausibility-informativeness theoryIn Vincent Hendricks (ed.), New Waves in Epistemology, Palgrave-macmillan. 2008.The problem adressed in this paper is “the main epistemic problem concerning science”, viz. “the explication of how we compare and evaluate theories [...] in the light of the available evidence” (van Fraassen 1983, 27).
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251The Logic of Confirmation and Theory AssessmentIn L. Behounek & M. Bilkova (eds.), The Logica Yearbook, Filosofia. 2005.This paper discusses an almost sixty year old problem in the philosophy of science -- that of a logic of confirmation. We present a new analysis of Carl G. Hempel's conditions of adequacy (Hempel 1945), differing from the one Carnap gave in §87 of his Logical Foundations of Probability (1962). Hempel, it is argued, felt the need for two concepts of confirmation: one aiming at true theories and another aiming at informative theories. However, he also realized that these two concepts are conflicti…Read more
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248Inductive LogicIn J. Lachs R. Talisse (ed.), Encyclopedia of American Philosophy, Routledge. 2008.Logic is the study of the quality of arguments. An argument consists of a set of premises and a conclusion. The quality of an argument depends on at least two factors: the truth of the premises, and the strength with which the premises confirm the conclusion. The truth of the premises is a contingent factor that depends on the state of the world. The strength with which the premises confirm the conclusion is supposed to be independent of the state of the world. Logic is only concerned with this …Read more
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221Review of Vincent F. Hendricks, Mainstream and Formal Epistemology (Cambridge University Press 2006) (review)Philosophy in Review 26 (4): 257-259. 2006.NA
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190Vincent F. Hendricks, Mainstream and Formal Epistemology Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 26 (4): 257-259. 2006.
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158Formal Representations of BeliefStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2008.Epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified belief. Belief is thus central to epistemology. It comes in a qualitative form, as when Sophia believes that Vienna is the capital of Austria, and a quantitative form, as when Sophia's degree of belief that Vienna is the capital of Austria is at least twice her degree of belief that tomorrow it will be sunny in Vienna. Formal epistemology, as opposed to mainstream epistemology (Hendricks 2006), is epistemology done in a formal way, that is, by…Read more
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64Why follow the royal rule?Synthese 194 (5). 2017.This note is a sequel to Huber. It is shown that obeying a normative principle relating counterfactual conditionals and conditional beliefs, viz. the royal rule, is a necessary and sufficient means to attaining a cognitive end that relates true beliefs in purely factual, non-modal propositions and true beliefs in purely modal propositions. Along the way I will sketch my idealism about alethic or metaphysical modality.
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62How to Learn Concepts, Consequences, and ConditionalsAnalytica: an electronic, open-access journal for philosophy of science 1 (1): 20-36. 2015.In this brief note I show how to model conceptual change, logical learning, and revision of one's beliefs in response to conditional information such as indicative conditionals that do not express propositions.
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62What is the Permissibility Solution a Solution of? -- A Question for KroedelLogos and Episteme 5 (3): 333-342. 2014.Kroedel has proposed a new solution, the permissibility solution, to the lottery paradox. The lottery paradox results from the Lockean thesis according to which one ought to believe a proposition just in case one’s degree of belief in it is sufficiently high. The permissibility solution replaces the Lockean thesis by the permissibility thesis according to which one is permitted to believe a proposition if one’s degree of belief in it is sufficiently high. This note shows that the epistemology of…Read more
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30Degrees of Belief as Basis for Scientific Reasoning?In W. Loeffler & P. Weingartner (eds.), Knowledge and Belief. Papers of the 26th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg. 2003.
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21Assessing Theories. The Problem of a Quantitative Theory of ConfirmationDissertation, University of Erfurt. 2004.
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16Central pattern generators from the viewpoint of a behavioral physiologistBehavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (4): 553-554. 1980.
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16Essay Review: The Laws of BeliefWolfgang Spohn, The Laws of Belief: Ranking Theory and Its Philosophical Applications. Oxford: Oxford University Press , 625 pp., £75.00 (review)Philosophy of Science 79 (4): 584-588. 2012.
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15Vincent F. Hendricks, Mainstream and Formal Epistemology (review)Philosophy in Review 26 257-259. 2006.
University Of Erfurt
Department Of Philosophy
Alumnus
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Logic and Philosophy of Logic |
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
Metaphilosophy |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Probability |