Realism versus instrumentalism in a new statistical framework

Philosophy of Science 73 (4):440-447 (2006)
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Abstract

In this paper, I offer a new defense of scientific realism, tailored for the Akaikean paradigm of statistical hypothesis testing. After proposing definitions of verisimilitude and predictive success, I use computer simulations to show how the latter depends on the former, even in the kind of case featured in a recent argument for instrumentalism.

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10.1086/516810

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Citations of this work

Simplicity and model selection.Guillaume Rochefort-Maranda - 2016 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 6 (2):261-279.
The role of Bayesian philosophy within Bayesian model selection.Jan Sprenger - 2013 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 3 (1):101-114.
Theory Status, Inductive Realism, and Approximate Truth: No Miracles, No Charades.Shelby D. Hunt - 2011 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 25 (2):159 - 178.

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References found in this work

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.Charles Darwin - 1897 - New York: Heritage Press. Edited by George W. Davidson.
The origin of species by means of natural selection.Charles Darwin - 1859 - Franklin Center, Pa.: Franklin Library. Edited by J. W. Burrow.
Prediction versus accommodation and the risk of overfitting.Christopher Hitchcock & Elliott Sober - 2004 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 55 (1):1-34.
Instrumentalism, parsimony, and the akaike framework.Elliott Sober - 2002 - Proceedings of the Philosophy of Science Association 2002 (3):S112-S123.

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