Gerhard Schurz

A new approach to Hume's problem of induction that justifies the optimality of induction at the level of meta-induction. Hume's problem of justifying induction has been among epistemology's greatest challenges for centuries. In this book, Gerhard Schurz proposes a new approach to Hume's problem. Acknowledging the force of Hume's arguments against the possibility of a noncircular justification of the reliability of induction, Schurz demonstrates instead the possibility of a noncircular justification of the optimality of induction, or, more precisely, of meta-induction (the application of induction to competing prediction models). Drawing on discoveries in computational learning theory, Schurz demonstrates that a regret-based learning strategy, attractivity-weighted meta-induction, is predictively optimal in all possible worlds among all prediction methods accessible to the epistemic agent. Moreover, the a priori justification of meta-induction generates a noncircular a posteriori justification of object induction. Taken together, these two results provide a noncircular solution to Hume's problem. Schurz discusses the philosophical debate on the problem of induction, addressing all major attempts at a solution to Hume's problem and describing their shortcomings; presents a series of theorems, accompanied by a description of computer simulations illustrating the content of these theorems (with proofs presented in a mathematical appendix); and defends, refines, and applies core insights regarding the optimality of meta-induction, explaining applications in neighboring disciplines including forecasting sciences, cognitive science, social epistemology, and generalized evolution theory. Finally, Schurz generalizes the method of optimality-based justification to a new strategy of justification in epistemology, arguing that optimality justifications can avoid the problems of justificatory circularity and regress.

The Optimality of Meta-Induction

Hume's Problem Solved

Alexander Christian

David Hommen

Nina Retzlaff

This broad and insightful book presents current scholarship in important subfields of philosophy of science and addresses an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary readership. It groups carefully selected contributions into the four fields of I) philosophy of physics, II) philosophy of life sciences, III) philosophy of social sciences and values in science, and IV) philosophy of mathematics and formal modeling. Readers will discover research papers by Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Keizo Matsubara, Kian Salimkhani, Andrea Reichenberger, Anne Sophie Meincke, Javier Suárez, Roger Deulofeu, Ludger Jansen, Peter Hucklenbroich, Martin Carrier, Elizaveta Kostrova, Lara Huber, Jens Harbecke, Antonio Piccolomini d’Aragona and Axel Gelfert. This collection fosters dialogue between philosophers of science working in different subfields, and brings readers the finest and latest work across the breadth of the field, illustrating that contemporary philosophy of science has successfully broadened its scope of reflection. It will interest and inspire a wide audience of philosophers as well as scholars of the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. The volume shares selected contributions from the prestigious second triennial conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science/ Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsphilosophie (GWP.2016, March 8, 2016 – March 11, 2016).

Between the Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities

Philosophy of Science

Paul Weingartner

Berichte des 13. Internationalen Wittgenstein-Symposiums, 14. bis 21. August 1988, Kirchberg am Wechsel (Osterreich)

Grenzfragen zwischen Philosophie und Naturwissenschaft

Edouard Machery

Markus Werning

Representational systems such as language, mind or brain, exhibit a structure that is widely assumed to be compositional, i.e., the semantic value of complex representations is determined by the semantic values of its parts. Dating back to the late nineteenth century, the principle of compositionality has recently regained wide attention. Since the way the principle has been dealt with differs across disciplines, the aim of these two volumes is to conjoin the diverging approaches. The editors have assembled a collection of original essays that cover the topic of compositionality from virtually all perspectives of interest in the contemporary debate. The well chosen international list of authors includes psychologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, linguists and philosophers, among them: D. Bonnais; Johannes Brandl; Marc Breuer; David Byrd; Daniel Cohnitz; Malte Dahlgr�n; Reinaldo Elugardo; Tim Fernando; Kenneth Gemes; Verena Gottschling; Pierre Jacob; Hannes Leitgeb; Menno Lievers; Alda Mari ; Jaume Mateu; Albert Newen; Jaroslav Peregrin; Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen; Kenneth Presting; Oleg Prosorov; Gerhard Schurz ; Finn Spicer; and Markus Werning. Markus Werning, Edouard Machery, and Gerhard Schurz are professors of philosophy at the Heinrich-Heine-University at Duesseldorf, Germany.

The Compositionality of Meaning and Content: Foundational issues

Uskali Mäki

Ioannis Votsis

Stéphanie Ruphy

This volume showcases the best of recent research in the philosophy of science. A compilation of papers presented at the EPSA 13, it explores a broad distribution of topics such as causation, truthlikeness, scientific representation, gender-specific medicine, laws of nature, science funding and the wisdom of crowds. Papers are organised into headings which form the structure of the book. Readers will find that it covers several major fields within the philosophy of science, from general philosophy of science to the more specific philosophy of physics, philosophy of chemistry, philosophy of the life sciences, philosophy of psychology, and philosophy of the social sciences and humanities, amongst others. This volume provides an excellent overview of the state of the art in the philosophy of science, as practiced in different European countries and beyond. ​It will appeal to researchers with an interest in the philosophical underpinnings of their own discipline, and to philosophers who wish to explore the latest work on the themes explored.

Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science: EPSA13 Helsinki

Representational systems such as language, mind and perhaps even the brain exhibit a structure that is often assumed to be compositional. That is, the semantic value of a complex representation is determined by the semantic value of their parts and the way they are put together. Dating back to the late 19th century, the principle of compositionality has regained wide attention recently. Since the principle has been dealt with very differently across disciplines, the aim of the two volumes is to bring together the diverging approaches. They assemble a collection of original papers that cover the topic of compositionality from virtually all perspectives of interest in the contemporary debate. The well-chosen international list of authors includes psychologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, linguists, and philosophers.

Foundational Issues

Logic, philosophy of science and epistemology

Neuere Entwicklungen in Der Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie

The second volume is devoted to issues of compositionality that arouse in the sciences of language, the investigation of the mind, and the modeling of representational brain functions. How could compositional languages evolve? How many sentences are needed to learn a compositional language? How does compositionality relate to the interpretation of texts, the generation of idioms and metaphors, and the understanding of aberrant expressions? What psychological mechanism underlies the combination of complex concepts? And finally, what neuronal structure can possibly realize a compositional system of mental representations?

Applications to Linguistics, Psychology and Neuroscience

Like relativity and quantum theory chaos research is another prominent concept of 20th century physics that has triggered deep and far-reaching discussions in the philosophy of science. In this volume outstanding scientists discuss the fundamental problems of the concepts of law and of prediction. They present their views in their contributions to this volume, but they also are exposed to criticism in transcriptions of recordings made during discussions and in comments on their views also published in this book. Although all authors assume familiarity with some background in physics they also address the philosophers of science and even a general audience interested in modern science's contribution to a deeper understanding of reality.

Law and Prediction in the Light of Chaos Research

Martin Carrier

Welche Rolle spielen Werte in den Wissenschaften? Diese Frage bildet den Kern des Werturteilsstreits, einer der nachhaltigsten Debatten der Wissenschaftsphilosophie und Sozialphilosophie. Nach einem ersten Höhepunkt in den 1960er und 1970er Jahren wurde in jüngster Zeit eine Reihe neuer Ansätze zu diesem Thema entwickelt. Der Band präsentiert neue Aufsätze zum Werturteilsstreit, zum Teil in deutscher Erstübersetzung, sowie historische Schlüsseltexte der Debatte. Er bietet einen umfassenden Überblick über eine der wichtigsten Fragen der Wissenschaft.

neue Ansätze zum Werturteilsstreit

Werte in den Wissenschaften

Philosophy of Science: A Unified Approach combines a general introduction to philosophy of science with an integrated survey of all its important subfields. As the book’s subtitle suggests, this excellent overview is guided methodologically by "a unified approach" to philosophy of science: behind the diversity of scientific fields one can recognize a methodological unity of the sciences. This unity is worked out in this book, revealing all the while important differences between subject areas. Structurally, this comprehensive book offers a two-part approach, which makes it an excellent introduction for students new to the field and a useful resource for more advanced students. Each chapter is divided into two sections. The first section assumes no foreknowledge of the subject introduced, and the second section builds upon the first by bringing into the conversation more advanced, complementary topics. Definitions, key propositions, examples and figures overview all of the core material. At the end of every chapter there are selected readings and exercises (with solutions at the end of the book). The book also includes a comprehensive bibliography and an index.

Gerhard Schurz

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