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A Good Explanation of an Event is not Necessarily Corroborated by the Event

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

I. J. Good
I. J. Good*
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
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Abstract

It is shown by means of a simple example that a good explanation of an event is not necessarily corroborated by the occurrence of that event. It is also shown that this contention follows symbolically if an explanation having higher “explicativity” than another is regarded as better.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , June 1982 , pp. 251 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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References

REFERENCES

Good, I. J. (1968), “Corroboration, Explanation, Evolving Probability, Simplicity and a Sharpened Razor”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 19: 123–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Good, I. J. (1977), “Explicativity: a Mathematical Theory of Explanation with Statistical Applications”, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A, 354: 303–330. Reprinted in A. Zellner (ed.) Bayesian Analysis in Econometrics and Statistics: Essays in Honor of Harold Jeffreys. Amsterdam: North Holland.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Alexander (1980), “Ruse's Treatment of the Evidence for Evolution: a Reconsideration”, in PSA 80, vol. 1. Edited by Asquith, P. D. and Giere, R. N. East Lansing, Michigan: Philosophy of Science Association: 83–93.Google Scholar