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234562

Regularity theories disconfirmed

a revamped argument and a wager

Patrick Cronin

pp. 4913-4933

Abstrakt

Regularity theories of causation assert that causal or nomic notions are to be reduced into “mere” frequencies of particular, non-nomic, co-located qualities and matters of fact. In this essay, I present a critical exploration of Armstrong (1983) and Strawson’s (1989) explanatory arguments against regularity theories. The shortcomings of these older arguments for nomic realism are identified and a revamped version which is immune to such problems is outlined and defended. I argue that anti-realism suffers substantial disconfirmation due to its comparative inability to unify empirical regularities in the absence of any probabilistic counterweights. I also show that realist theories are much more probable than their anti-realist competitors both individually and in aggregate. This is shown to be the case with even the most humble of observational data. This revamped argument is Bayesian in character; it is immune to the criticisms of Beebee (2006), Everitt (1991), Loewer (1996), and van Fraassen (1985); and it is empiricist friendly to boot.

Publication details

Published in:

Colombo Matteo, Gervais Raoul, Sprenger Jan (2017) Objectivity in science. Synthese 194 (12).

Seiten: 4913-4933

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-016-1177-y

Referenz:

Cronin Patrick (2017) „Regularity theories disconfirmed: a revamped argument and a wager“. Synthese 194 (12), 4913–4933.