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    It is part of the meaning of 'explanation' that if one th... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) either contradicts itself or equivocates, and therefore cannot coherently describe inductive or evidential support.

    It is part of the meaning of 'explanation' that if one theory is more explanatory than another, the more explanatory theory must be more informative than the less explanatory theory.

    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge
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    Topics

    Philosophy of LanguageTruth & Knowledge

    Key Terms

    Informative(epistemology (theory of knowledge))
    In this context, it means actually telling us something new or useful—not just restating what we already know in different words.
    Meaning (of a term)(as used in philosophy of language)
    The core ideas or requirements built into what a word or concept actually is—what makes it that word rather than something else.
    Theory

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    Browse more in Philosophy of Language
    Related propositions within the same area of thought.
    (Among the candidate bearers of consistency/inconsistency)
    A set of sentences closed under logical consequence.
    explanation(philosophy of science / epistemology)
    A concept whose meaning entails that if one theory is more explanatory than another, the former must be more informative than the latter

    Notable Defenders

    van Fraassencontemporaryvan Fraassen 1983, Sect. 2

    Connections

    2 topics

    Causation1 linkedModality & Possibility1 linked

    Related

    A more informative theory cannot be more likely to be true than a less informati...Any account of evidential support that requires greater informativeness to groun...IBE claims that more explanatory theories receive greater inductive or evidentia...Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) either contradicts itself or equivocates...

    Similar

    A theory can be more explanatory without being more informative90%Li are more involved with definition than with explanation84%The premise that a theory must be more informative in order to be more...83%Using a term whose meaning depends on 'I' to explain 'I' presupposes w...82%

    Source

    AI-extracted
    SEP: abduction
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    The first objection has as a premise that it is part of the meaning of “explanation” that if one theory is more explanatory than another, the former must be more informative than the latter (see, e.g., van Fraassen 1983, Sect. 2). The alleged problem then is that it is “an elementary logical point that a more informative theory cannot be more likely to be true [and thus] attempts to describe inductive or evidential support through features that require information (such as ‘Inference to the Best

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