Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Date of this Version
1977
Citation
Published in Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Science, Volume 4 (1977).
Abstract
Nelson Goodman has maintained that a definition of confirmation which does not include a criterion of law-likeness will allow the "confirmation" of any prediction whatsoever on the basis of any given body of data. Unfortunately, Goodman does not give an argument for this claim, but contents himself with illustrating it by examples. This paper supplies the argument which Goodman did not give, and thus shows that his claim is justified. My argument brings out what is essential to the construction of "grue"-type predicates, and thereby clarifies the nature of "the new riddle of induction."
COinS
Comments
Copyright 1977 by the Authors; used by permission of the NAS