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It is not the case that An indefinitely large number of competing hypotheses can equally explain any surprising fact e, making none individually privileged.
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Reasons For
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Reason for
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1.
Explanatory power differs: simpler, more unified hypotheses predict novel phenomena better than ad hoc alternatives.
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2.
In practice, competing hypotheses face different burdens of proof; unfalsifiable hypotheses cannot be scientifically defended.
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3.
The claim itself is self-undermining: if indefinitely many explanations work equally, the claim itself has no privileged support.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
For any observation, we can always construct ad hoc hypotheses with auxiliary assumptions that retroactively fit the evidence.
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2.
Empirical equivalence between theories means no amount of observational data alone can logically eliminate all alternatives.
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3.
Historical science shows multiple competing frameworks (geocentrism vs heliocentrism) explained the same astronomical facts.
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