The apparent superiority of prediction to accommodation as a side effect: A reply to Maher

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (3):575-588 (2001)
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Abstract

has offered a lovely example to motivate the intuition that a successful prediction has a kind of confirmatory significance that an accommodation lacks. This paper scrutinizes Maher's example. It argues that once the example is tweaked, the intuitive difference there between prediction and accommodation disappears. This suggests that the apparent superiority of prediction to accommodation is actually a side effect of an important difference between the hypotheses that tend to arise in each case.

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Marc Lange
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Citations of this work

Prediction versus accommodation and the risk of overfitting.Christopher Hitchcock & Elliott Sober - 2004 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 55 (1):1-34.
A Confrontation of Convergent Realism.Peter Vickers - 2013 - Philosophy of Science 80 (2):189-211.
Hypothesis Testing in Scientific Practice: An Empirical Study.Moti Mizrahi - 2020 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 33 (1):1-21.
On the predilections for predictions.David Harker - 2008 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (3):429-453.
Prediction and accommodation revisited.John Worrall - 2014 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 45 (1):54-61.

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References found in this work

Elements of symbolic logic.Hans Reichenbach - 1947 - London: Dover Publications.
Natural laws in scientific practice.Marc Lange - 2000 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Dynamics of Theory Change: The Role of Predictions.Stephen G. Brush - 1994 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1994:133 - 145.
Why are the laws of nature so important to science?Marc Lange - 1999 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59 (3):625-652.
Elements of Symbolic Logic. [REVIEW]W. V. Quine - 1948 - Journal of Philosophy 45 (6):161-166.

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