Confirmation theory & confirmation logic
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Philosophy, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Lin, Chao-tien
issued: 2010-09-30T20:25:39Z
issued: 1987
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The title of my dissertation is "confirmation theory & confirmation logic", and it consists of five Parts. The motivation of the dissertation was to construct an adequate confirmation theory that could solve "the paradoxes of confirmation" discovered by Carl G. Hempel. In Part One I try mainly to do the three things, (i) introduce the fundamentals of Hempel's theory of qualitative confirmation as the common background for subsequent discussions, (ii) review the major views of the paradoxes of confirmation, (iii) present a new view, which is more radical than other known views, and argue that a solution to the paradoxes of confirmation may require a change of logic. In Part Two I construct a number of promising three-valued logics. I employ these "quasi confirmation logics" as the underlying logics of some new confirmation theories which, I had hoped, would solve the paradoxes of confirmation. I consider three-valued logics instead of any other many-valued logics as the underlying logic for any promising confirmation theory, because I believe that there is some intimate relationship or, even, a one-to-one correspondence between the (controversial) three truth-values of "truth", "falsity" and "neither truth nor falsity" and, respectively, the (non-controversial) three confirmation-statuses of "confirmation", "disconfirmation" and "neutrality". Unfortunately, these theories were found to be semantically inadequate. This became clear after a complete semantics for them had been developed. Thus, one negative result of Part Two is that our syntactical approach to confirmation theory is wrong from the very beginning. However, from this negative result we learn a positive lesson: a semantical approach is more fundamental and decisive than a syntactical one, at least this is so for constructing an adequate theory of confirmation. It is rewarding to note that the three-valued semantics worked out in Part Two is simple, complete and the first of its kind. In fact, the new thre…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/28859
note: CONFIRMATION THEORY & CONFIRMATION LOGIC By LIN CHAO-TIEN B .A . , National Taiwan Un ivers i t y , 1962 M.A., National Taiwan Un ivers i t y , I966 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY) We accept t h i s thes is as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1987 © L i n Chao - t ien , 1987 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Philosophy The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date March 23, 1988 DE-6G/81) ABSTRACT The t i t l e of my d i s s e r t a t i o n i s " c o n f i r m a t i o n t h e o r y & c o n -f i r m a t i o n l o g i c " , and i t c o n s i s t s of f i v e P a r t s . The m o t i v a t i o n o f the d i s s e r t a t i o n was to c o n s t r u c t an adequate c o n f i r m a t i o n t h e -o r y tha t c o u l d s o l ve " the paradoxes o f c o n f i r m a t i o n " d i s c o v e r e d by C a r l G. Hempel. In Pa r t One I t r y ma in ly to do the t h r e e t h i n g s , ( i ) i n t r o d u c e the fundamenta ls of Hempel ' s t heo ry o f q u a l i t a t i v e c o n f i r m a t i o n as the common background f o r subsequent d i s c u s s i o n s , ( i i ) rev iew the major v iews of the paradoxes of c o n f i r m a t i o n , ( i i i ) p re sen t a new v iew, which i s more r a d i c a l than o the r known v iews, and argue tha t a s o l u t i o n to the paradoxes of c o n f …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0098076
language: eng
degree discipline: Philosophy
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28859