Hacking’s broad claim in this paper is that there are deep connections between Leibniz’s program for a “new kind of logic” and Carnap’s inductive logic program. His more specific thesis is that inductive logic as Carnap imagined it would only be possible if some theory like Leibniz’s were true. ***You can find the original paper… Continue reading Paper Review: The Leibniz-Carnap Program for Inductive Logic
Tag: induction
Paper Review: Can the Best-Alternative Justification Solve Hume’s Problem? On the Limits of a Promising Approach
Last week we explored a proposed solution to Hume's problem of induction --- Schurz's meta-inductor. The idea was this: suppose we have a bunch of predictors, and we are predicting something like the next symbol in a sequence. For example, we might have seen this sequence so far: 100100100100100 and our goal is to predict… Continue reading Paper Review: Can the Best-Alternative Justification Solve Hume’s Problem? On the Limits of a Promising Approach
Paper Review: No Free Lunch Theorem, Inductive Skepticism, and the Optimality of Meta-induction
The infamous no free lunch theorem (NFL theorem) asserts that all computable prediction methods have equal expected success. Computer scientists, and occasionally philosophers, often describe this result as a computer-science cousin of Hume's problem of induction. Given this theorem, one might think that trying to design a better or worse prediction algorithm for general prediction tasks is pointless:… Continue reading Paper Review: No Free Lunch Theorem, Inductive Skepticism, and the Optimality of Meta-induction
Paper Review: Symmetry and its Discontents
Why should one expect the future to resemble the past? This is one formulation of Hume's problem of induction. Consider the claim that the sun will rise tomorrow. Why should we expect this? It is true that it has risen every day we've been alive, and every day for a few billion years before that.… Continue reading Paper Review: Symmetry and its Discontents
The Crow's Nest 