A study of explanatory virtues
The inference to the best explanation (IBE) appeals to how hypotheses would explain certain facts. If a hypothesis explains well and better than any other (available) hypotheses, IBE concludes that it is true. Our work examines what makes it the case that some hypotheses would explain facts better t...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Universidade Estadual de Campinas
2018
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| Online Access: | https://econtents.sbu.unicamp.br/eventos/index.php/pibic/article/view/325 |
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| author | Coimbra, Daniel Credico de Ruffino, Marco Antonio Caron |
| author_facet | Coimbra, Daniel Credico de Ruffino, Marco Antonio Caron |
| author_sort | Coimbra, Daniel Credico de |
| collection | Portal de Eventos Científicos da UNICAMP |
| container_reference | Revista dos Trabalhos de Iniciação Científica da UNICAMP; n. 26 (2018): Congresso de Iniciação Científica Unicamp |
| description | The inference to the best explanation (IBE) appeals to how hypotheses would explain certain facts. If a hypothesis explains well and better than any other (available) hypotheses, IBE concludes that it is true. Our work examines what makes it the case that some hypotheses would explain facts better than others. We also examine other non-explanatory features which are (thought to be) correlated with the truth of a proposed explanation. We name all these features explanatory virtues, and they are the measure employed by IBE of goodness of explanation. Our research has the purpose of investigating four chief (proposed) explanatory virtues: simplicity, unification, non ad hocness, and coherence. We intend to study the description and justification of these proposed virtues. Our final goal is to improve and appraise the employment of IBE, a valuable tool in philosophy. |
| first_indexed | 2025-10-08T13:50:25Z |
| format | Online |
| id | ojs-article-325 |
| institution | Universidade Estadual de Campinas |
| issn | 2596-1969 |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2025-10-08T13:50:25Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Universidade Estadual de Campinas |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | ojs-article-3252025-09-26T14:32:30Z A study of explanatory virtues Coimbra, Daniel Credico de Ruffino, Marco Antonio Caron Epistemology Explanation Simplicity. The inference to the best explanation (IBE) appeals to how hypotheses would explain certain facts. If a hypothesis explains well and better than any other (available) hypotheses, IBE concludes that it is true. Our work examines what makes it the case that some hypotheses would explain facts better than others. We also examine other non-explanatory features which are (thought to be) correlated with the truth of a proposed explanation. We name all these features explanatory virtues, and they are the measure employed by IBE of goodness of explanation. Our research has the purpose of investigating four chief (proposed) explanatory virtues: simplicity, unification, non ad hocness, and coherence. We intend to study the description and justification of these proposed virtues. Our final goal is to improve and appraise the employment of IBE, a valuable tool in philosophy. Universidade Estadual de Campinas 2018-12-14 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Artigo de convidado application/pdf https://econtents.sbu.unicamp.br/eventos/index.php/pibic/article/view/325 10.20396/revpibic262018325 Revista dos Trabalhos de Iniciação Científica da UNICAMP; n. 26 (2018): Congresso de Iniciação Científica Unicamp 2596-1969 eng https://econtents.sbu.unicamp.br/eventos/index.php/pibic/article/view/325/788 Copyright (c) 2018 Daniel Credico de Coimbra, Marco Antonio Caron Ruffino http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Coimbra, Daniel Credico de Ruffino, Marco Antonio Caron Epistemology Explanation Simplicity. A study of explanatory virtues |
| title | A study of explanatory virtues |
| title_full | A study of explanatory virtues |
| title_fullStr | A study of explanatory virtues |
| title_full_unstemmed | A study of explanatory virtues |
| title_short | A study of explanatory virtues |
| title_sort | study of explanatory virtues |
| topic | Epistemology Explanation Simplicity. |
| url | https://econtents.sbu.unicamp.br/eventos/index.php/pibic/article/view/325 |
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