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Optimum Inductive Methods

A Study in Inductive Probability, Bayesian Statistics, and Verisimilitude

  • Book
  • © 1993

Overview

Authors:
  1. Roberto Festa

    1. Fellow of the Department of Philosophy of Science, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

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Part of the book series: Synthese Library (SYLI, volume 232)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 1-9

  3. Inductive Probabilities, Bayesian Statistics, and Verisimilitude

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11
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    2. The Theory of Inductive Probabilities: Basic Features and Applications

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 13-19

    3. Bayesian Statistics and Multinomial Inferences: Basic Features

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 20-37

    4. Bayesian Point Estimation, Verisimilitude, and Immodesty

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 38-47

  4. De Finetti’s Theorem, GC-Systems, and Dirichlet Distributions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49
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    2. Exchangeable Inductive Methods, Bayesian Statistics, and Convergence Towards the Truth

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 51-56

    3. GC-systems and Dirichlet Distributions

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 57-71

  5. Verisimilitude, Disorder, and Optimum Prior Probabilities

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 73-73
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    2. The Choice of Prior Probabilities: The Subjective, Aprioristic, and Contextual Approaches

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 75-102

    3. The Epistemic Problem of Optimality (EPO): A Contextual Approach

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 103-122

    4. The Contextual Approach to EPO: Comparisons with Other Views

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 123-138

    5. Disordered Universes: Diversity Measures in Statistics and the Empirical Sciences

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 139-149

    6. Concluding Remarks

      • Roberto Festa
      Pages 150-153

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 154-194
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Keywords

About this book

This book deals with a basic problem arising within the Bayesian approach 1 to scientific methodology, namely the choice of prior probabilities. The problem will be considered with special reference to some inference methods used within Bayesian statistics (BS) and the so-called theory of inductive 2 probabilities (T/P). In this study an important role will be played by the assumption - defended by Sir Karl Popper and the supporters of the current verisimilitude theory (VT) - that the cognitive goal of science is the achievement of a high degree of truthlikeness or verisimilitude. A more detailed outline of the issues and objectives of the book is given in Section 1. In Section 2 the historical background of the Bayesian approach and the verisimilitude theory is briefly illustrated. In Section 3, the methods used in TIP and BS for making multinomial inference~ are considered and some conceptual relationships between TIP and BS are pointed out. In Section 4 the main lines of a new approach to the problem of the choice of prior probabilities are illustrated. Lastly, in Section 5 >the structure of the book is described and a first explanation of some technical terms is provided.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Fellow of the Department of Philosophy of Science, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

    Roberto Festa

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Optimum Inductive Methods

  • Book Subtitle: A Study in Inductive Probability, Bayesian Statistics, and Verisimilitude

  • Authors: Roberto Festa

  • Series Title: Synthese Library

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8131-8

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 1993

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-2460-7Published: 30 September 1993

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-4318-4Published: 07 December 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-015-8131-8Published: 09 March 2013

  • Series ISSN: 0166-6991

  • Series E-ISSN: 2542-8292

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 194

  • Topics: Logic, Statistics, general, Philosophy of Science, Epistemology

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