ENGLISH

Hume's Problem: Induction and the Justification of Belief

Book information

Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Year
2001
ISBN
0198250371, 9780198250371
Open Library ID
OL9543403M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
1 MB (1254632 bytes)
Pages
163\163
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

In the mid-eighteenth century David Hume argued that successful prediction tells us nothing about the truth of the predicting theory. But physical theory routinely predicts the values of observable magnitudes within very small ranges of error. The chance of this sort of predictive success without a true theory suggests that Hume's argument is flawed. However, Colin Howson argues that there is no flaw and examines the implications of this disturbing conclusion; he also offers a solution to one of the central problems of Western philosophy, the problem of induction.

Similar books