Inference to the Best Explanation

Question 1

Inference to the Best Explanation/Abduction

Answer 1

Common forms of enumerative induction are ‘horizontal’, from observations we infer facts.
Inference to the best explanation/abduction is ‘vertical’. We can infer something deeper and unobservable. We infer that the answer is the best possible explanation.
When we claim H is the explanation of E without knowing whether H is true or not.
More succinctly, inference to the best potential explanation.
eg.
The road is wet
The road is wet because it has been raining
(best potential/most likely explanation)
H being the best possible explanation of E,
E
__
H
Not deductively valid but the best we can possibly offer?

Question 2

What makes an Explanation Good?

Answer 2

-likely; high probability of being true
-lovely: being highly explanatory, providing a ot of understanding, if it were true
These features often appear seperately, eg. conspiracy theories that are lovely (explain perfectly) but not likely (impossible)
or, opium putting people to sleep because of its dormitive properties is likely but not lovely, probably true but does not tell us what the properties are or why it is used etc.
-IBE should be the loveliest explanation that meets a certain threshold of likeliness, should assume that the best explanation is the loveliest one

Question 3

IBE & Enumerative Induction

Answer 3

A1 is B
An is B
No A that is not B has been observed
---
All A's are B

potential explanations could be: All A’s are B (conclusion reached), A’s that are not B are unobservable to the human eye, all A’s are B up until a certain point

Enumerative induction is justified through IBE by assuming that the first explanation is the best one, the loveliest and most likely.

Question 4

Objections

Answer 4

• explanation has to stop somewhere, otherwise we embark on an infinite regress of explanations
• we cannot assume that everything happens for a reason, maybe sometimes there isnt an explanation or there is only a bad explanation for something
• the best explanation we are considering may not be the best explanation there is, therefore IBE gives us false beliefs even though the real best explanation is in fact true we just do not know about it
• what is the best explanation may differ from person to person, therefore IBE could be used to infer incompatible/contrasting hypotheses.

Question 5

Ockham’s Razor

Answer 5

Choose simplicity when it comes to IBE