Empirical evidence claims are a priori.

This paper responds to Achinstein’s criticism of the thesis that the only empirical fact that can affect the truth of an objective evidence claim such as ‘ is evidence for ’ (or ‘ confirms to degree ’) is the truth of . It shows that cases involving evidential flaws, which form the basis for Achins...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 190; no. 13; pp. 2821 - 2835
Autor principal: Rowbottom, Darrell P.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Sep2013
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:This paper responds to Achinstein’s criticism of the thesis that the only empirical fact that can affect the truth of an objective evidence claim such as ‘ is evidence for ’ (or ‘ confirms to degree ’) is the truth of . It shows that cases involving evidential flaws, which form the basis for Achinstein’s objections to the thesis, can satisfactorily be accounted for by appeal to changes in background information and working assumptions. The paper also argues that the a priori and empirical accounts of evidence are on a par when we consider scientific practice, but that a study of artificial intelligence might serve to differentiate them.