2026/07/23 by Alisa Bokulich · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · #Calculus (dental) #History of Science and Natural History #Inverse problem #Origins and Evolution of Life #Philosophy and History of Science #Subject (documents) #Underdetermination #Value (mathematics)
paper · doi:10.1017/psa.2026.10263
openalex publication_date 2026/07/23 · openalex created_date 2026/07/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/24
Abstract Charles Peirce’s most well-known contribution to logic and scientific methodology is his account of abduction . However, what exactly Peirce meant by abduction is subject to perennial dispute. My aim in this paper is two-fold: First, I interpret Peirce’s abduction through the lens of his research in geophysics and argue this supports interpreting it as a kind of inverse modeling. Second, I show that the methods Peirce outlined for managing the underdetermination of abductive inferences are the same as those deployed by geoscientists to manage the nonuniqueness of geophysical inversions. I conclude by emphasizing the value of reintegrating Peirce-the-Philosopher with Peirce-the-Geoscientist.