Deduction, Induction and Probabilistic Support

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Elementary results concerning the connections between deductive relations and probabilistic support are given. These are used to show that Popper-Miller's result is a special case of a more general result, and that their result is not ``very unexpected'' as claimed. According to Popper-Miller, a purely inductively supports b only if they are ``deductively independent''---but this means that $neg a vdash b$. Hence, it is argued that viewing induction as occurring only in the absence of deductive relations, as Popper-Miller sometimes do, is untenable. Finally, it is shown that Popper-Miller's claim that deductive relations determine probabilistic support is untrue. In general, probabilistic support can vary greatly with fixed deductive relations as determined by the relevant Lindenbaum algebra.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-10
    Number of pages10
    JournalSynthese
    Volume108
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 1996

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Deduction, Induction and Probabilistic Support'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this