Weighing Interpretations in Science, Biblical Studies, and Life

Matthew B. Joss

doi:10.5771/9781666918021

Summary

Conflicting narratives beat upon us everywhere, in politics, religion, and even science. One person’s conspiracy theory seems to be another’s self-evident truth. But how are we to decide—what makes one interpretation of the world better than another? Weighing Interpretations in Science, Biblical Studies, and Life: The Quest for the Best Explanation argues that theories and interpretations are trying to explain the world, and hence the better theory is the one that better explains the data of the world. But this raises questions. What is an explanation? How are we to rank them? What kind of inference allows us to find and reason about these explanations? This book provides a full description of this Inference to Best Explanation (IBE) and shows how IBE is at work in science, Biblical studies, and even everyday life. Matthew B. Joss offers a new method of diagramming and weighing explanatory arguments for competing interpretations. In particular, the book focuses on Biblical studies, showing how this method can help in assessing and dialoging about interpretations, walking through case studies in detail. Finally, the book concludes by gesturing towards some theological implications of IBE. Namely, IBE lends itself to a bottom-up way of theologizing that is consistent with core Christian doctrines.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2023
ISBN-Print: 978-1-6669-1801-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-6669-1802-1
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 248
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
1. The Problem No access
2. Our Guide No access
3. 1. The Departure Point and Trajectory No access
  2. Bypassed Routes No access
  3. Polkinghorne and Confirmation No access
  4. The Itinerary No access
4. Notes No access
1. 1. Description No access
  2. 1. The Raven Problem No access
    2. The Problem of Equal Confirmation No access
    3. The Problem of Grue (the New Riddle of Induction) No access
    4. The Tacking Problem No access
    5. The Application Problem No access
  3. Conclusions No access
2. 1. Description No access
  2. 1. The Application and Equal Confirmation Problems No access
    2. The Problem of Grue No access
    3. The Raven Problem No access
    4. The Tacking Problem No access
    5. Conclusion No access
  3. 1. The Problem of Objective Priors No access
    2. Subjective Bayesianism No access
    3. Ignorance and Prior Probabilities No access
    4. Different Confirmation from Same Evidence No access
    5. Measuring Belief Rather than Evidence No access
    6. Belief Functions as Evidence No access
    7. The Problem of Old Evidence No access
    8. Congruence with Confirmation Practices No access
    9. The Infinite Regress of Priors No access
    10. The Application Problem No access
3. Hybrid Solutions No access
4. Concluding Digest No access
5. 1. Description No access
  2. 1. Previous Problems No access
    2. New Problems No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
1. 1. 1. Description No access
    2. Problems with D-N No access
    3. Conclusions No access
  2. 1. Description No access
    2. Problems with S-R No access
  3. 1. Description No access
    2. Problems with C-M No access
2. 1. 1. Reutlinger’s View of Causation in Explanation No access
    2. Strevens’ View of Causation in Explanation No access
  2. A GEM of a Proposal No access
3. 1. Pluralism vs Monism No access
  2. Concurrent Pluralism No access
  3. Pragmatic Pluralism No access
  4. The Inductive Case for Pluralism No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. 1. Abduction Overview No access
  2. Abduction as Hypothesis Generation and Selection No access
2. 1. 1. Exduction as a Species of Induction No access
    2. Induction as a Species of Exduction No access
    3. Exduction and Induction as Independent Classes No access
  2. 1. Monotonicity No access
    2. Determinativeness No access
    3. Classification No access
  3. 1. Enumerative Induction as Exduction No access
    2. Deductivist Exduction No access
3. 1. Its Object No access
  2. Its Origin No access
  3. 1. Belief Revision No access
    2. Investigation Process No access
    3. Metareasoning No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. The Virtues No access
2. 1. 1. Simple Measures No access
    2. Complex Systems No access
    3. A New Measure No access
  2. 1. Measure Choice No access
    2. Defense of JCN in Confirmation No access
3. 1. 1. The GM Ratio Measure No access
    2. The Schupbach and Sprenger Measure No access
  2. 1. Possible Problems No access
    2. Comparisons No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. 1. Explanatory Power and Coherence No access
  2. 1. The Tacking Problem No access
    2. The Problem of Grue No access
    3. The Raven Problem No access
    4. Problems of Application No access
    5. Issues with ECHO No access
  3. Inference to the Best Theory No access
  4. Challenges and Conclusions No access
6. Notes No access
1. First-half Recap No access
2. 1. The Case of the Gooky Galley No access
  2. The Case of the Corpuscular Controversy No access
  3. Worrall, Deduction, and Confirmation No access
  4. The Problem of Prediction No access
3. 1. Umberto Eco and Abduction No access
  2. Challenges to IBE Language Confirmation No access
  3. 1. The Case for H-D No access
  4. Problems with H-D No access
4. Notes No access
1. Hermeneutics and Exduction No access
2. 1. 1. N. T. Wright No access
    2. Christoph Heilig No access
    3. Analysis No access
    4. Conclusion No access
  2. 1. Narrative Gaps and Text Formation in the Hebrew Bible No access
    2. History of Second Temple Judaism No access
    3. Textual Criticism No access
3. 1. Overview No access
  2. 1. Datum 1: Πιστεύω No access
    2. Datum 2: The Emphasis on the Graveclothes No access
    3. Datum 3: Ignorance No access
    4. Datum 4: The Return No access
    5. Completing the Initial Picture No access
    6. Initial Conclusions No access
  3. Defeaters and Explanation Evaluation No access
  4. 1. Challenge 1: Theological Πιστεύω No access
    2. Challenge 2: Ignorance No access
    3. Challenge 3: The Return No access
    4. Situation after TT Critique No access
  5. 1. Rebuttal 1: Theological Πιστεύω No access
    2. Rebuttal 2: Ignorance No access
    3. Rebuttal 3: The Return No access
    4. RT Challenge: Graveclothes (GC) Emphasis No access
  6. Summary No access
4. Conclusion and Consequences No access
5. Notes No access
1. 1. The Problem of Paradigms No access
  2. The Solution to Paradigms No access
  3. Explanationism Paradigm Evaluation No access
2. 1. The Theory No access
  2. The Resurrection and Luke No access
  3. 1. The Women at the Tomb No access
    2. The Response of the Disciples No access
    3. The Case of Peter No access
    4. The Emmaus Road Disciples No access
    5. The Response of the Group in Jerusalem No access
  4. The Evaluation of BFAJ in John No access
  5. BFAJ Evaluation Summary No access
  6. 1. The Infinite Qualitative Difference No access
    2. From the IQD to Confirming the Resurrection No access
    3. The Role of Metanoia No access
3. Consequences No access
4. Synthesis No access
5. Notes No access
1. Synopsis No access
2. The Bottom-Up Theological Method No access
3. 1. Setting the Stage No access
  2. A Deeper Explanation No access
4. 1. Pelagianism No access
  2. The Holy Spirit No access
  3. Biblical Epistemology No access
5. Final Thoughts No access
6. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 219 - 242
Index No access Pages 243 - 246
About the Author No access Pages 247 - 248