The Logic of Reliable Inquiry (Hardcover)

There are many proposed aims for scientific inquiry - to explain or predict events, to confirm or falsify hypotheses, or to find hypotheses that cohere with our other beliefs in some logical or probabilistic sense. This book is devoted to a different proposal - that the logical structure of the scientist's method should guarantee eventual arrival at the truth, given the scientist's background assumptions. Interest in this methodological property, called "logical reliability", stems from formal learning theory, which draws its insights not from the theory of probability, but from the theory of computability. Kelly first offers an accessible explanation of formal learning theory, then goes on to develop and explore a systematic framework in which various standard learning-theoretic results can be seen as special cases of simpler and more general considerations. Finally, Kelly clarifies the relationship between the resulting framework and other standard issues in the philosophy of science, such as probability, causation, and relativism. Extensively illustrated with figures by the author, The Logic of Reliable Inquiry assumes only introductory knowledge of basic logic and computability theory. It is a major contribution to the literature and will be essential reading for scientists, statiticians, psychologists, linguists, logicians, and philosophers.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Logic and Computation in Philosophy Series
Release date:	February 1996
First published:	1996
Authors:	Kevin T. Kelly (Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy)
Dimensions:	245 x 165 x 28mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	448
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-509195-3
Categories:	Books > Computing & IT > General theory of computing > Mathematical theory of computation Books > Science & Mathematics > Mathematics > Mathematical foundations > Mathematical logic Books > Science & Mathematics > Mathematics > Topology > Analytic topology Promotions
LSN:	0-19-509195-7
Barcode:	9780195091953

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