Abstract
Earlier in this volume, Wesley Salmon has given a characteristically clear and trenchant critique of the account of non-demonstrative reasoning known by the slogan ‘Inference to the Best Explanation’. As a long-time fan of the idea that explanatory considerations are a guide to inference, I was delighted by the suggestion that Wes and I might work together on a discussion of the issues. In the event, this project has exceeded my high expectations, for in addition to the intellectual gain that comes from the careful study of his essay, I have benefited enormously from the stream of illuminating emails and faxes that Wes has sent me during our collaboration. Doing philosophy together has been an education and a pleasure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Cartwright, N., (1983). How the Laws of Physics lie. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goodman, N., (1983). Fact, Fiction, and Forecast, 4th ed. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Harman, G., (1965). “The Inference to the Best Explanation”, The Philosophical Review, 74, 88–95.
Hempel, C., (1965). Aspects of Scientific Explanation. New York: Free Press.
Hume, D., (1777). An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, L.A. Selby-Bigg and P.H. Nidditch (eds.), 1975. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lipton, P., (1991). Inference to the Best Explanation. London: Routledge.
Lipton, P., (1993). “Contrastive Explanation”, in D. Hillel Ruben (ed.), Explanation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Peirce, C., (1931). Collected Papers. C. Hartshorn and P. Weiss (eds.), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sober, E., (1988). Reconstructing the Past: Parsimony, Evolution and Inference. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Thagard, P., (1978). “The Best Explanation: Criteria for Theory Choice”, The Journal of Philosophy, 75: 76–92.
van Fraassen, B., (1980). The Scientific Image. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lipton, P. (2001). Is Explanation a Guide to Inference? A Reply to Wesley C. Salmon. In: Hon, G., Rakover, S.S. (eds) Explanation. Synthese Library, vol 302. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9731-9_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9731-9_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5827-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9731-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive