Abduction, Reason and Science [electronic resource] : Processes of Discovery and Explanation /

This volume explores abduction (inference to explanatory hypotheses), an important but neglected topic in scientific reasoning. My aim is to inte­ grate philosophical, cognitive, and computational issues, while also discuss­ ing some cases of reasoning in science and medicine. The main thesis is that abduction is a significant kind of scientific reasoning, helpful in delineating the first principles of a new theory of science. The status of abduction is very controversial. When dealing with abduc­ tive reasoning misinterpretations and equivocations are common. What are the differences between abduction and induction? What are the differences between abduction and the well-known hypothetico-deductive method? What did Peirce mean when he considered abduction a kind of inference? Does abduction involve only the generation of hypotheses or their evaluation too? Are the criteria for the best explanation in abductive reasoning epis­ temic, or pragmatic, or both? How many kinds of abduction are there? The book aims to increase knowledge about creative and expert infer­ ences. The study of these high-level methods of abductive reasoning is situ­ ated at the crossroads of philosophy, epistemology, artificial intel1igence, cognitive psychology, and logic; that is, at the heart of cognitive science. Philosophers of science in the twentieth century have traditionally distin­ guished between the inferential processes active in the logic of discovery and the ones active in logic of justification.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Magnani, Lorenzo. author., SpringerLink (Online service)
Format: Texto biblioteca
Language:eng
Published: Boston, MA : Springer US : Imprint: Springer, 2001
Subjects:Philosophy., History., Logic., Philosophy and science., Cognitive psychology., Philosophy of Science., Cognitive Psychology., History, general.,
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8562-0
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