What is required for something to be evidence for a hypothesis?

In this fascinating, elegantly written work, distinguished philosopher of science Peter Achinstein explores this question, rejecting typical philosophical and statistical theories of evidence. He claims these theories are much too weak to give scientists what they want--a good reason to believe--and, in some cases, they furnish concepts that mistakenly make all evidential claims a priori.

Achinstein introduces four concepts of evidence, defines three of them by reference to "potential" evidence, and characterizes the latter using a novel epistemic interpretation of probability. The resulting theory is then applied to philosophical and historical issues. Solutions are provided to the "grue," "ravens," "lottery," and "old-evidence" paradoxes, and to a series of questions. These include whether explanations or predictions furnish more evidential weight, whether individual hypotheses or entire theoretical systems can receive evidential support, what counts as a scientific discovery, and what sort of evidence is required for it. The historical questions include whether Jean Perrin had non-circular evidence for the existence of molecules, what type of evidence J.J. Thomson offered for the existence of the electron, and whether, as is usually supposed, he really discovered the electron. Achinstein proposes answers in terms of the concepts of evidence introduced.

As the premier book in the fabulous new series Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science, this volume is essential for philosophers of science and historians of science, as well as for statisticians, scientists with philosophical interests, and anyone curious about scientific reasoning.

Reader Reviews

JDP

(2/5)

Nov 02, 2007

the book begins with the "dean's challenge" -- can a philosopher shed any light on scientific enquiry (especially the relationship between evidence and hypotheses) that is useful to actual scientists. then, the rest is an attempt to make good on this challenge. there are at lest two fundamental problems: (1) this presumes that philosophers haven't had much to say that should interest scientists, which is false (see Scientific Reasoning by Howson and Urbach); (2) the author puts forward an "ord...

Chris Lawrence

(3/5)

May 19, 2013

Hard going. Very tediously written & a joy to finish. Shame because there's some good stuff in there which the author tries hard to hide.Improved a bit on second reading (after a few months) - I promoted it from 2 to 3 stars. But still harder going than it needs to be. I felt there was a leaner, clearer, more engaging book struggling to get out.

Haru Fujimura

Jun 23, 2022

Stephen

(4/5)

Mar 11, 2012

Sheikh Tajamul

Dec 05, 2015

Jeremy

Oct 07, 2012

Cheng Wen Cheong

Feb 28, 2020

Chris Arledge

May 02, 2018

Minke Y.

(5/5)

Oct 07, 2013

Sophie

Dec 07, 2018

Quan Wright

Feb 01, 2013

Inter N.

Jan 14, 2014

May 24, 2018

Anne

(0/5)

Mar 10, 2010

Dennis Leo

Oct 15, 2010

Chase

Sep 21, 2011

Katsuya Takao

Oct 31, 2012

Tyler

Jan 22, 2013

Franco

Apr 21, 2013

Doğan Kahraman

Apr 18, 2014

Ben Pace

Apr 23, 2014

Cameron Davis

May 19, 2014

Brian Connelly

Apr 21, 2015

Majd

Dec 06, 2015

S. O'Brien

Dec 26, 2015

Amaloujohn

Feb 02, 2016

Hasan Tahir

Feb 03, 2016

Daniel

Aug 15, 2016

BookDB

Aug 24, 2016

André Neiva

Dec 30, 2016

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The Book of Evidence

The Book of Evidence

The Book of Evidence

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