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New theory about old evidence

Sylvia WenmackersJan-Willem Romeijn

pp. 1225-1250

Abstract

We present a conservative extension of a Bayesian account of confirmation that can deal with the problem of old evidence and new theories. So-called open-minded Bayesianism challenges the assumption—implicit in standard Bayesianism—that the correct empirical hypothesis is among the ones currently under consideration. It requires the inclusion of a catch-all hypothesis, which is characterized by means of sets of probability assignments. Upon the introduction of a new theory, the former catch-all is decomposed into a new empirical hypothesis and a new catch-all. As will be seen, this motivates a second update rule, besides Bayes’ rule, for updating probabilities in light of a new theory. This rule conserves probability ratios among the old hypotheses. This framework allows for old evidence to confirm a new hypothesis due to a shift in the theoretical context. The result is a version of Bayesianism that, in the words of Earman, “keep[s] an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out”.

Publication details

Published in:

Gebharter Alexander, Schurz Gerhard (2016) Causation, probability, and truth. Synthese 193 (4).

Pages: 1225-1250

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-014-0632-x

Full citation:

Wenmackers Sylvia, Romeijn Jan-Willem (2016) „New theory about old evidence“. Synthese 193 (4), 1225–1250.