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1 results

  • Chapter 4 - Singular Compositional Abduction

  • Kenneth Aizawa, Rutgers University, New Jersey
  • Book:
    Compositional Abduction and Scientific Interpretation
    Published online:
    20 November 2025
    Print publication:
    04 December 2025, pp 82-115
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  • Summary

    This chapter proposes that singular compositional abduction has four features shared by at least many other instances of abduction: (1) abduction is sometimes used for confirmation, (2) abduction is sometimes used to postulate entities that are qualitatively distinct from the entities cited in the supporting evidence, (3) abduction may rely on background beliefs, and (4) abduction is sometimes used to postulate entities that are not directly empirically detected. It also indicates why scientists take abduction to be truth conducive. It shows how compositional abduction may serve as an alternative to the theory of hypothetico-deductive confirmation. Finally, it suggests a broad range of scientific cases in cognitive science that might be understood in terms of singular compositional abduction.