The Facts of the Matter: A Discussion of Norton’s Material Theory of Induction*

2005 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Steel
Keyword(s):  
Material Theory ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction

scholarly journals Direct Inference in the Material Theory of Induction

2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 672-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Peden
Keyword(s):  
Direct Inference ◽  
Material Theory ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction

scholarly journals Does the Dome Defeat the Material Theory of Induction?

Erkenntnis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Peden
Keyword(s):  
Thought Experiment ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
Material Theory ◽  
Inductive Inferences ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction ◽  
Formal Features

AbstractAccording to John D. Norton's Material Theory of Induction, all inductive inferences are justified by local facts, rather than their formal features or some grand principles of nature's uniformity. Recently, Richard Dawid (Found Phys 45(9):1101–1109, 2015) has offered a challenge to this theory: in an adaptation of Norton's own celebrated "Dome" thought experiment, it seems that there are certain inductions that are intuitively reasonable, but which do not have any local facts that could serve to justify them in accordance with Norton's requirements. Dawid's suggestion is that “raw induction” might have a limited but important role for such inferences. I argue that the Material Theory can accommodate such inductions, because there are local facts concerning the combinatoric features of the induction’s target populations that can licence the inferences in an analogous way to existing examples of material induction. Since my arguments are largely independent of the details of the Dome, Norton's theory emerges as surprisingly robust against criticisms of excessive narrowness.

scholarly journals Epistemic benefits of the material theory of induction

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 99-105
Author(s):  
Job de Grefte
Keyword(s):  
Material Theory ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction

scholarly journals The Material Theory of Induction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN D. NORTON
Keyword(s):  
Material Theory ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction

Quantum sidelights on The Material Theory of Induction

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
John Earman
Keyword(s):  
Material Theory ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction

scholarly journals A Material Theory of Induction*

2003 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Norton
Keyword(s):  
Material Theory ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction

scholarly journals The Material Theory of Induction at the Frontiers of Science

Episteme ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
William Peden
Keyword(s):  
Background Knowledge ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Finite Sets ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Frontiers Of Science ◽  
Material Theory ◽  
Inductive Inferences ◽  
Material Theory Of Induction ◽  
In Virtue Of

Abstract According to John D. Norton's Material Theory of Induction, all reasonable inductive inferences are justified in virtue of background knowledge about local uniformities in nature. These local uniformities indicate that our samples are likely to be representative of our target population in our inductions. However, a variety of critics have noted that there are many circumstances in which induction seems to be reasonable, yet such background knowledge is apparently absent. I call such an absence of circumstances ‘the frontiers of science', where background scientific theories do not provide information about such local uniformities. I argue that the Material Theory of Induction can be reconciled with our intuitions in favour of these inductions. I adapt an attempted justification of induction in general, the Combinatoric Justification of Induction, into a more modest rationalisation at the less foundational level that the critics discuss. Subject to a number of conditions, we can extrapolate from large samples using our knowledge of facts about the minimum proportions of representative subsets of finite sets. I also discuss some of Norton's own criticisms of his theory and argue that he is overly pessimistic. I conclude that Norton's theory at least performs well at the frontiers of science.

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