Reconstructing Probabilistic Realism: Re-enacting Syntactical Structures

DAVOODY BENI M.

JOURNAL FOR GENERAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, vol.51, no.2, pp.293-313, 2020 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 51 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10838-018-9426-z
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL FOR GENERAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, Philosopher's Index
  • Page Numbers: pp.293-313
  • Keywords: Probabilistic realism, Predictive coding, Free energy principle, Semantics, Pragmatics, FREE-ENERGY PRINCIPLE, ACTIVE INFERENCE, MODELS, UNIFICATION
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Probabilistic realism and syntactical positivism were two among outdated theories that Feigl criticised on account of their semantical poverty. In this paper, I argue that a refined version of probabilistic realism, which relies on what Feigl specified as the pragmatic description of the symbolic behaviour of scientists' estimations and foresight, is defendable. This version of statistical realism does not need to make the plausibility of realist thesis dependent on the conventional acceptance of a constructed semantic metalanguage. I shall rely on the Prediction Error Minimisation theory (PEM) to support my probabilistic version of realism with a scientifically-informed and naturalistically plausible statistical account of the theories-world relationship which has a pragmatic ring to it.