Skip to main content

Problem-Solving and the Problem of Induction

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in The Philosophy of Science ((BSPS,volume 272))

In his 1972 book: Objective Knowledge, Popper devotes Chap. 1 to the problem of induction. Elsewhere in the book (in Chaps. 3, 4, 6 and 8), he presents a general schema of problem solving. The aim of this paper is to bring these two strands of thought together. The initial problem (P1) is here the traditional philosophical problem of induction. Popper proposes a tentative solution (TS) to this problem. The paper then proceeds with the problem solving schema by adding error elimination (EE), i.e. criticisms of the tentative solution. These are concerned with computer induction, and with the claim that corroboration is in some sense inductive. This discussion leads in turn to the emergence of a new problem (P2). A suggestion is made about how this new problem might be tackled. The approach involves Neurath's principle, but applied to methods rather than theories.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Carnap, Rudolf. 1950 (1963). Logical Foundations of Probability, 2nd edn. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillies, Donald. 1993. Philosophy of Science in the Twentieth Century: Four Central Themes. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillies, Donald. 1996. Artificial Intelligence and Scientific Method. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillies, Donald. 1998. Confirmation Theory. In Handbook of Defeasible Reasoning and Uncertainty Management Systems, eds. Dov Gabbay and Philippe Smets, Vol. 1, pp. 135–167. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, David. 1994. Critical Rationalism. A Restatement and Defence. Chicago, IL/LaSalle, IL: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neurath, Otto. 1932/1933 (1959). Protocol Sentences. Reprinted in English translation. in Logical Positivism, ed. Alfred Jules Ayer, pp. 199–208. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Hear, Anthony. 1980. Karl Popper. London/New York: Routledge, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, Karl Raimund. 1959 (1972). New Appendices to the Logic of Scientific Discovery. In 6th revised impression of the 1959 English translation, pp. 307–464. London: Hutchinson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, Karl Raimund. 1963. Conjectures and Refutations. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, Karl Raimund. 1972. Objective Knowledge. An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmon, Wesley. 1968. The justification of inductive rules of inference (+ discussion). In The Problem of Inductive Logic, ed. Imre Lakatos, pp. 24–97. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Salmon, Wesley. 1981. Rational Prediction. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 32: 115–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamburrini, Guglielmo 2006. Artificial Intelligence and Popper's Solution to the Problem of Induction. In Karl Popper: A Centenary Assessment, Volume II Metaphysics and Epistemology, eds. Ian Jarvie, Karl Milford and David Miller, pp. 265–284. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ter Hark, Michel. 2004. Popper, Otto Selz and the Rise of Evolutionary Epistemology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Paperback Edition 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans, Stefan and Leiter, Valerie. 2000. The Redemption of Thalidomide: Standardizing the Risk of Birth Defects. Social Studies of Science 30: 41–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.

About this paper

Cite this paper

Gillies, D. (2009). Problem-Solving and the Problem of Induction. In: Parusniková, Z., Cohen, R.S. (eds) Rethinking Popper. Boston Studies in The Philosophy of Science, vol 272. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9338-8_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics