1st Edition

Foundations of Inference in Natural Science

Edited By J O Wisdom Copyright 1952
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    270 Pages
    by Routledge

    Originally published in 1952. This book is a critical survey of the views of scientific inference that have been developed since the end of World War I. It contains some detailed exposition of ideas – notably of Keynes – that were cryptically put forward, often quoted, but nowhere explained. Part I discusses and illustrates the method of hypothesis. Part II concerns induction. Part III considers aspects of the theory of probability that seem to bear on the problem of induction and Part IV outlines the shape of this problem and its solution take if transformed by the present approach.

     

    1. Scientific Outlook
    2. Experiments and Method
    3. The Contrast Between Generalisation and Non-Instantial Hypothesis
    4. The Principle of Testability
    5. Induction and the Hypothetico-Deductive System
    6. Hypothetico-Deductive Explanation
    7. Two Types of Simplicity
    8. Determinism, Orderliness and Uncertainty
    9. Operationalism and the Descriptive Interpretation
    10. The Traditional Approach to Induction
    11. Criteria for Causal Determination and Functional Relationship
    12. The Nature and Strength of Generalisation, Analogy and Induction
    13. Induction by Repetition
    14. The Law of Uniformity of Nature
    15. Requirements for an Inductive Principle
    16. Four Principles of Induction
    17. Induction as a Successful Habit
    18. The Vertical Causal Nexus
    19. Impasse in the Inductive Approach
    20. Some Theorems in Probability
    21. The Meaning of Probability
    22. The Probability of a Hypothesis
    23. Appendix: The Probability Calculus and Keynes’s Principle

    24. Probability and Induction
    25. Transformation of the Problem of Induction

    List of Works Directly Cited

    Index

     

    Biography

    J O Wisdom