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25Toward a geometrical theory of truth approximation: Reply to Thomas MormannPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 455-457. 2005.This paper primarily deals with the conceptual prospects for generalizing the aim of abduction from the standard one of explaining surprising or anomalous observations to that of empirical progress or even truth approximation. It turns out that the main abduction task then becomes the instrumentalist task of theory revision aiming at an empirically more successful theory, relative to the available data, but not necessarily compatible with them. The rest, that is, genuine empirical progress as we…Read more
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23Aesthetic induction versus coherence: Reply to Paul ThagardPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 371-374. 2005.
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22The hypothetico-probabilistic (HP-) method as a concretization of the HD-methodIn Sami Pihlström, Panu Raatikainen & Matti Sintonen (eds.), Approaching Truth: Essays in Honour of Ilkka Niiniluoto, College Publications. pp. 179--207. 2007.
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22Explanation by intentional, functional, and causal specificationPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 47 209-236. 1996.
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21Confirmation and truthlikeness: Reply to Gerhard SchurzPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 160-166. 2005.
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21Inductive Analogy in Carnapian SpiritPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1984. 1984.In this paper it is shown that there is a natural way of dealing with analogy by similarity in inductive systems by extending intuitive ways of introduction of systems without analogy. This procedure leads to Carnap-like systems, with zero probability for contingent generalizations, satisfying a general principle of so-called virtual analogy. This new principle is different from, but compatible with, Carnap's principle. It will be shown that the latter principle is satisfied, and should only be …Read more
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21Kinds of micro-explanation: Reply to Erik Weber and Helena de preesterPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 187-190. 2005.
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20Unintended consequences and the case of abduction: Reply to Roberto FestaPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 521-525. 2005.
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20Truthlikeness and the Number of PlanetsJournal of Philosophical Logic 53 (2): 493-520. 2024.Examples of hypotheses about the number of planets are frequently used to introduce the topic of (actual) truthlikeness but never analyzed in detail. In this paper we first deal with the truthlikeness of singular quantity hypotheses, with reference to several ‘the number of planets’ examples, such as ‘The number of planets is 10 _versus_ 10 billion (instead of 8).’ For the relevant ratio scale of quantities we will propose two, strongly related, normalized metrics, the proportional metric and th…Read more
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19Functional specification and fish swimming backward: Reply to Arno WoutersPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 294-298. 2005.
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19On bridging philosophy and sociology of science: Reply to jesús Zamora BonillaPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 370-372. 2005.
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19Domain and vocabulary extension: Reply to Bert HammingaPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 337-340. 2005.
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18Background knowledge and the structuralist approach: Reply to Jaap KampsPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 338-342. 2005.
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18Moderate realism and metaphors: Reply to Hans MooijPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 506-510. 2005.
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17Self-application of Merton's norms: Reply to Henk ZandvoortPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 499-501. 2005.
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15Inference to the Best Theory, Rather than Inference to the Best Explanation: Kinds of Abduction and InductionVienna Circle Institute Yearbook 11 25-51. 2004.An interesting consequence of the structuralist theory of truth approximation, as developed in my From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism, henceforth ICR, concerns so-called ‘inference to the best explanation’. It will be argued that this popular rule among scientific realists can better be replaced by, various kinds of, ‘inference to the best theory’.
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14Idealization I: general problems (edited book)Rodopi. 1990.o;,nai\ Studies in the Philosophy of the Scienees and the Humanities 1999, Vol. I6,-57 Ilkka Niiniluoto THEORIES, APPROXIMATIONS, AND IDEALIZATIONS" L...
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14Refined nomic truth approximation by revising models and postulatesSynthese 197 (4): 1601-1625. 2020.Assuming that the target of theory oriented empirical science in general and of nomic truth approximation in particular is to characterize the boundary or demarcation between nomic possibilities and nomic impossibilities, I have presented, in my article entitled “Models, postulates, and generalized nomic truth approximation” :3057–3077, 2016. 10.1007/s11229-015-0916-9), the ‘basic’ version of generalized nomic truth approximation, starting from ‘two-sided’ theories. Its main claim is that nomic …Read more
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14One versus many intended applications: Reply to Sjoerd ZwartPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 396-402. 2005.
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13On designing historically adequate formal reconstructions: Reply to Eric ScerriPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 211-216. 2005.
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12'Thisgrue' and 'thisemerald-part': Reply to John WelchPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1): 138-140. 2005.
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12Structures in Science: Heuristic Patterns Based on Cognitive Structures An Advanced Textbook in Neo-Classical Philosophy of ScienceKluwer Academic Publishers. 2001.The philosophy of science has lost its self-confidence, witness the lack of advanced textbooks in contrast to the abundance of elementary textbooks. Structures in Science is an advanced textbook that explicates, updates, accommodates, and integrates the best insights of logical-empiricism and its main critics. This `neo-classical approach' aims at providing heuristic patterns for research. The book introduces four ideal types of research programs and reanimates the distinction between observatio…Read more
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12Coherence: Reply to Gerard VreeswijkPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 404-406. 2005.
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11Conceptual ConcretizationOrganon F: Medzinárodný Časopis Pre Analytickú Filozofiu 30 (2): 153-159. 2023.
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11Intending in terms of reasons for actions: Reply to Jeanne PeijnenburgPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 234-236. 2005.
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10Mathematics and explication: Reply to Jean Paul Van bendegemPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 84 (1): 170-173. 2005.
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9Approaching probabilistic and deterministic nomic truths in an inductive probabilistic waySynthese 199 (3-4): 8001-8028. 2021.Theories of truth approximation in terms of truthlikeness almost always deal with approaching deterministic truths, either actual or nomic. This paper deals first with approaching a probabilistic nomic truth, viz. a true probability distribution. It assumes a multinomial probabilistic context, hence with a lawlike true, but usually unknown, probability distribution. We will first show that this true multinomial distribution can be approached by Carnapian inductive probabilities. Next we will dea…Read more