2025/07/23 by L. Scorzato, Luigi Scorzato, Scorzato, Luigi · 1 voice
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Architecture and Computational Design #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #physics.hist-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2507.17212
openalex publication_date 2025/07/23 · arxiv published 2025/07/23 · arxiv updated 2025/07/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
I review the works of Gärdenfors (1990) and Scorzato (2013) and show that their combination provides an elegant solution of Goodman's new riddle of induction. The solution is based on two main ideas: (1) clarifying what is expected from a solution: understanding that philosophy of science is a science itself, with the same limitations and strengths as other scientific disciplines; (2) understanding that the concept of complexity of a model's assumptions and the concept of direct measurements must be characterized together. Although both measurements and complexity have been the subject of a vast literature, within the philosophy of science, essentially no other attempt has been made to combine them. The widespread expectation, among modern philosophers, that Goodman's new riddle cannot be solved is not defensible without a serious exploration of such a natural approach. A clarification of this riddle has always been very important, but it has become even more crucial in the age of AI.