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BayesianPhilosophyofScience

BayesianPhilosophyofScience

VariationsonaThemebythe ReverendThomasBayes

p(H|E)= p(H)

p(E|H) p(E)

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©JanSprengerandStephanHartmann2019

Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2019

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IchbineinEsel,undwillgetreu, wiemeineVäter,dieAlten, anderalten,liebenEselei, amEseltumehalten.

UndweilicheinEsel,soraticheuch, denEselzumKönigzuwählen; wirstiftendasgroßeEselreich, wonurdieEselbefehlen.

WirsindalleEsel!I-A!I-A!

WirsindkeinePferdeknechte. FortmitdenRossen!Eslebe—Hurra!— DerKönigvomEselsgeschlechte!

FirstAuthor’sPreface

Likemanythingsinlifethatyoudoforthefirsttime,writingabook istemptingandscaryatthesametime.Itisscarybecausethestakes arehigh:Aweakerjournalarticleoreditedvolumechapteriseasily pardonedbytheacademiccommunity.Itendsupnotbeingcitedand that’sit.Abook,however,ismeasuredbydifferentstandards:itis assumedthatyouhavewrittenitwithouthavingtosatisfycapricious referees,stressededitorsandstrictlengthandstyleconstraints.Itis supposedtoshowyourhighestlevelofphilosophicalthinking.(The analogueinmusicisperhapsthedifferencebetweenwritingapiano sonataandwritingasymphony—especiallywhenitisthefirst.We knowwellhowmucheventhegreatestcomposershavestruggled withthisstep!)Forpersonalitieslikeme,whotendtobeperfectionist andsloppyatthesametime,thismeansthatyouspendanendless amountoftimeonrevisionsandcorrections.Atsomepoint,then,the entireprojectfeelslikeanever-endingstoryandyouarejusthappyto completeitandtomoveontonewchallenges.

Atthesametime,writingabookisagreattemptation.Notonly becausehavingabundleofcaseboundpaperonyourdeskgivesa differentfeelingofrewardthanbeingnotifiedthatyourarticlehas beenpublishedonthejournal’shomepage.Writingabookissomethingthatallowsyoutoreflectonyourprofessionalcontributionsand achievements.Youcanputthemintoacontextthatallowsthereaders tograspthebiggerpictureandtoperceivethelinksbetweenthe differentpartsofyourwork.Whiletheprocesswasattimestedious andfrustrating,overallIenjoyeditverymuch.Ienjoyevenmorethat wehave—finally!—broughttheprojecttoasuccessfulconclusion.

Likewithmostyoungphilosophers,theideaofpublishinga bookwasbornwhenIwasabouttocompletemyPh.D.thesisin

philosophyofscienceonthetopic“ConfirmationandEvidence”. DifferentfromtheStates,publishingtheirPh.D.thesisasabookwas athingthatyoungGerman doctoresphilosophiae wereencouragedto doinordertolaunchtheiracademiccareer—atleastbackinthedays (2008).Mysupervisor,ProfessorAndreasBartelsattheUniversityof Bonn,expressedafavorableopinionandsuggestedtryingtopublish theworkwithMentis,awell-respectedGermanpublishinghouse. AlthoughthethesiswascertainlyfineforobtainingthePh.D.,and althoughitcontainedseveralnewideasandresults,Ifeltthatit wasnotcoherentandmatureenoughtosurviveasabook.Rather Ihopedthatthemoreinterestingchapterscouldformthecoreofa differentbook.Sotheworkdisappearedintheproverbialfiledrawer, thatis,theinternetsiteofthe Universitäts-undLandesbibliothekBonn (ulb).(Makingthecontentspubliclyaccessible,atleastinelectronic form,wasarequirementfortheawardofthePh.D.)Leavingthe GermanacademicsystemandtakingupapostatTilburgUniversity intheNetherlandshelpedmetomakethatdecision.Istillthinkit wasright.Toomanypretentiousphrasescenteredaroundpointsof marginalgeneralinterest,orasStephanHartmannlikestosayin similarcontexts,“calculationdetailsfortheumpteenthepicycleofthe Ptolemaicsystem”.Ifyouare,likeme,ayoung,callowandslightly overconfidentphilosopherofscience,thenIinviteyoutosearchfor theworkonthe ulb’ssiteandseewhetherthereareparallelstoyour ownPh.D.thesis.

YearslaterStephanandIstartedtoworkonthisbook—anoutlineandarésuméofphilosophyofscienceconductedwithBayesian models.Tomysurprise,eventhemoreoriginalandsignificantparts ofmythesis—thecontributionstothetheoryofH-Dconfirmation andstatisticalinference—eventuallydroppedoutofthepicture.“Ein schönesLied,einMeisterlied,/wiefass’ichdadenUnterschied?”asks WalthervonStolzinginwhatisperhapsthemostinspiredsceneof RichardWagner’s MeistersingervonNürnberg.Withtheabovedistinction,Walther’sconversationpartnerHansSachsisalludingtothefact thatcreativityandinspiration(“einschönesLied”)arenotsufficient formakingalastingcontributionthatmeetscertainconstraintsand reapswidespreadapplause(“einMeisterlied”).Withthehelpofthe experiencedSachs,Waltherfinallymanagestocondensehistalent

andenthusiasmintoapiecethatisalsoapprovedbytheconservativeNurembergmastersingers.Ithinktheprocessofdeveloping philosophicalideasandgivingthemformissimilar.Itisuptothe reader’sjudgmentwhetherwehavesucceededatthistask,butitwas ourambitiontobalanceaccessibilityfornon-specialistsandpleasing proportionswithnovelandinspiringcontributions.Itthendawned uponmethatsomeofthecontentswhichweredeartomyheartand whichIwasplanningtoincludeinthebookmightratherbeomitted.

Thebookisalsoabalanceofmylong-standingfriendshipand productivecollaborationwiththeotherauthor,StephanHartmann, whowasmymentoranddirectsuperiorduringfiveyearsinTilburg (2008–2013).AsdirectoroftheTilburgCenterforLogicandPhilosophyofScience(tilps),Stephanmanagedtoputarathersleepytown ontheglobalmapofphilosophyofscienceandtocreatealivelyand stimulatingenvironmentwherethecentralelementsofthisbookwere conceivedandworkedout—partlyincollaborationwithcolleagues suchasMatteoColombo,visitingscholarssuchasRichardDawid andJonahSchupbach,andPh.D.studentssuchasDominikKlein, ChiaraLisciandra,CarloMartiniandSoroushRafieeRad.Wefelt thatourworkinthisperiodshouldbecondensedintoamonograph whichdoesnotonlyreportourresults,butshowsthecommontheme intheindividualpiecesofresearch,andexplainsanddefendsour philosophicalapproach.StephanleftTilburgin 2013 tobecomecodirectoroftheMunichCenterforMathematicalPhilosophy(mcmp), andaftersucceedingStephanas tilps director,IjoinedtheUniversity ofTurinin 2017.Theprojectandthefriendshipsurvived,however, andwearebothveryhappytohavecompletedamanuscriptwhich will—orsowehope—inspirefutureresearchinphilosophyofscience andbeyond.

Iwouldliketoconcludewithmywordsofthanks.Inthefirst place,toStephanforhiscontinuoussupportandinvaluableadvicein becomingabetterphilosopher,navigatingtheacademicworld,and alsoinpersonalmatters.Thentomymentorsfrommygraduate studentyearsattheUniversityofBonn,whointroducedmetothe worldofcontemporaryphilosophyandhelpedmetocompletethe transitionfromappliedmathematics:mysupervisorAndreasBartels,hisassistantsCordFriebe,HolgerLyre,JacobRosenthal(special

thanks!)andProfessorRainerStuhlmann-Laeisz.Iwouldalsolike tomentionThomasGrundmann,ProfessoratthenearbyUniversity ofCologne(myhometown)andorganizerofmanyterrificsummer schools:forme,heisstilltheexemplarymodelforcombiningthe Germanandtheanglophonephilosophytradition.Fromthestaffat theLondonSchoolofEconomics,whereIspentatermasajunior visitingscholarduringmyPh.D.,IwouldliketomentionRichard Bradley,FranzDietrichandMatthewParkerfortheinspiringexample theyset.SameforMarkBurgman,MarkColyvanandPaulGriffiths, whoweretremendoushostsandcolleaguesduringmyresearchstays inSydneyandMelbournein 2009, 2011 and 2017.

Mostcreditsgotomyfantasticcolleaguesat tilps,whocreateda uniqueatmosphere—cosyanddynamicatthesametime—andwho mademefeelathomeforninelongyears.IfearIwillneveragain playfootballondepartmentalcorridors.Apartfrommydirectcollaborators,IwouldliketothankThomasBoyer-Kassem,SeamusBradley, ColinElliot,SilviaIvani,AlessandraMarra,FelipeRomeroandNaftali Weinbergerfortheirtremendousfeedbackonthedraftmanuscript. Fromthenot-yet-namedvisitorsandcolleagues,ClausBeisbart,PeterBrössel,LeandraBucher,FilipBuekens,LucaMoretti,Reinhard MuskensandMariePostma-Nilsenová.MystudentassistantsGeorgi Duev,ZhasminaKostadinovaandSophiaShokurifortheircorrections ofearlierversionsofthemanuscript.Then,allthosecolleaguesat differentuniversitieswhohelpedustoimprovethisbookthrough theirgenerousfeedback,andmynewcolleaguesinTurinfortheircordialwelcome,whichgreatlyhelpedmetofinishthemanuscript.Our copyeditorandtypesetterChristophervonBülow,whofoundhundredsofmistakesandmadeliterallythousandsofvaluablechanges andsuggestions.PeterMomtchilofffromOxfordUniversityPress forhispatience,supportandbeliefintheproject,andAprilPeake forguidingusthroughtheproductionprocess.TheNederlandse OrganisatievoorWetenschappelijkOnderzoek(nwo),theDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft(dfg)andtheEuropeanResearchCouncil (erc)fortheirgenerousfinancialsupport—especiallythrough erc StartingGrantNo. 640638.

Finally,manythankstoallmyfriends:meetingyouandspending timewithyoumadelifesoenjoyableintheyearsthatIwasworking

onthebook.Mostofyouwillnotreadthisbookanyway,soIdon’t havetolistyouall!Butpleasefeelincluded,regardlessofwhetheryou arepartoftheDoppelkopfcliquefromhighschoolorthe(all-German) Frenchconnection“Oùestlevin?”,whetherwemadefriendsatthe TSVVMerlijnfootballclub,whetherweplayedchesstogetherfor LeidscheSchaakgenootschaporŠahovskiKlubBrda,orwhetheryou arejustagoodfriendwithoutanyaffiliations!Last,butcertainlynot least,Iwouldliketothankmyparentsfortheircontinuoussupport andbeliefinme.Itisgreattohaveaplacethatyoucanalwayscome backto.

Turin,August 2018 JanSprenger

SecondAuthor’sPreface

In 2003,LucBovensandIpublishedthebook BayesianEpistemology, whichstartedwiththesentence“Bayesisalltherageinphilosophy”. Now,somefifteenyearslater,Bayesianismisevenmorepresentin manysubfieldsofphilosophy,andalotofexcitingworkhasbeen donesinceourbookappeared.

While BayesianEpistemology showedhowthepowerfulmachineryofBayesiannetworkscanbeusedtoaddressanumberofrather generalepistemologicalproblemsconcerningcoherence,confirmationandtestimony,thepresentbookfocusesonselectednormative questionsraisedbythepracticeofscience,suchas:Howconvincing arecertainargumentativestrategies?Whatmakesonetheorymore explanatorythananother?Whyshouldweaimatreducingonetheory toanother?Toaddressthesequestions,onecannotsimplyapply anexistingnormativeframework.Thedetailsmatter.Atthesame time,apurelydescriptiveornaturalisticapproachtothephilosophy ofsciencedoesnotsufficeeither.Whatisneededisacombination ofthetwoapproaches.Thepresentbookisourattempttointegrate detailsfromthepracticeofscienceandtodiscusstheminabroader normativeframework,informingphilosophyandscienceatthesame time.

Fordoingso,Bayesianismprovidesasuitableframework.Itis welldeveloped,ithasanormativefoundation,andthepowerful machineryofBayesiannetworkscanbeappliedtotakeintoaccount moreandmoredetailsofscientificpracticewithoutgettinglostin thesedetails.Bayesianismalsoconnectsnicelytostatisticalpractice, anditisprobablythesimplestformalapproachtoourquestions onecanthinkof.Weleaveittoourreaderstojudgehowsuccessful wehavebeenandhowconvincingouranalysesandmodelsare, xiii

andweencourageourreaderstochallengeusbyidentifyingaspects ofthemethodologyofsciencethatescapeanilluminatingBayesian treatment.

Like BayesianEpistemology,thisbookdemonstratesbyadetailed analysisofseveralexampleshowtheBayesianmachinerycanbe productivelyapplied.Manyquestionsarestillopen,andweleave (forexample)theBayesiananalysisofsocialaspectsofscienceand theexplorationofcloserconnectionsbetweenBayesianphilosophyof scienceandthepsychologyofreasoningforanotheroccasion.

MyresearchwassupportedbytheNederlandseOrganisatievoor WetenschappelijkOnderzoek(nwo),theDeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft(dfg,PriorityProgram“NewFrameworksofRationality”),the CenterofAdvancedStudies(cas)atLudwigMaximilianUniversity (lmu)Munich(SeniorResearcherinResidenceProgram)andthe AlexandervonHumboldtFoundation(AlexandervonHumboldtProfessorship).TheTilburgCenterforLogicandPhilosophyofScience (tilps),theMunichCenterforMathematicalPhilosophy(mcmp)and the cas at lmu Munichprovidedexcellentworkingenvironmentsfor conductingthisresearch.

Overtheyears,Ihaveprofitedfrommanydiscussionswithfriends andcolleaguesonvariousaspectsofthisbook,includingClausBeisbart,CristinaBicchieri,LorenzoCasini,ChiaraLisciandra,Matteo Colombo,MarkColyvan,EleonoraCresto,ErikCuriel,DavidDanks, RadinDardashti,RichardDawid,FranzDietrich,IgorDouven,FrederickEberhardt,MichaelEsfeld,BenjaminEva,ChristianFeldbacherEscamilla,BrandenFitelson,RomanFrigg,MathiasFrisch,AlexanderGebharter,MarioGünther,ClarkGlymour,PaulGriffiths,Ulrike Hahn,AlanHájek,BillHarper,RemcoHeesen,ColinHowson,Paul Hoyningen-Huene,FranzHuber,JimJoyce,JürgenLandes,Hannes Leitgeb,KristinaLiefke,ChristianList,SebastianLutz,AidanLyon, ConorMayo-Wilson,RyanMuldoon,BarbaraOsimani,HuwPrice, SoroushRafieeRad,MiklósRédei,RaphaelvanRiel,Jan-Willem Romeijn,JonahSchupbach,GerhardSchurz,WolfgangSpohn,Reuben Stern,ManfredStöckler,MichaelStöltzner,PatrickSuppes,Marko Tesic,KarimThébault,JohannaThoma,JosUffink,GregWheelerand EricWinsberg.AspecialthanksgoestomysecretaryMariaCsauscher forherexcellentwork.

ThelatePatrickSuppeswasmyacademicmentorformorethan twentyyears,andIowehimmorethanIcansayinwords.Iamalso tremendouslythankfulfortheconstantsupportandencouragement ofJeremyButterfield,RomanFriggandMargieMorrison.LucBovens gotmeexcitedaboutBayesianisminthelate 1990s,forwhichIam verygrateful.Iwouldalsoliketothankhimforouralwaysenjoyable andproductivecollaboration.Itturnedmyacademiclifearoundand openedawholenewfieldforme.PeterMomtchiloffhasbeenan excellentandpatienteditoranditwasapleasuretoworkagainwith him.Severalchaptersofthisbookcontainmaterialwhichappeared alreadyinjointpaperswithBenjaminEva,FoadDizadji-Bahmani, RichardDawid,BrandenFitelson,RomanFriggandSoroushRafiee Rad,andIwouldliketothankthemfortheirinputandthewonderful collaborations.ErikCurielprovideddetailedwrittenfeedbackonan earlierversionofthemanuscriptandChristophervonBülowdida fantasticjobasacopyeditor.Thankyouboth!Mycourse“Central TopicsinthePhilosophyofScience”at lmu Munichintheacademic years 2015/2016 and 2017/2018 waspartlybasedofthemanuscriptof thisbook,andIwouldliketothankmystudentsfortheirveryhelpful feedback.

Mybiggestthanksgoestomyfriendandco-authorJanSprenger whodidthelion’sshareofthisworkandwhoalsodeservesthelion’s shareofthecreditforit.Ithasbeenalotoffuntodiscussandwork outwithhimtheideaspresentedinthisbook.Iwouldalsoliketo thankmyfriendsandfamilyfortheirsupportovertheyears.Itmeans alottome.

Munich,September 2018

StephanHartmann

FirstAuthor’sPreface SecondAuthor’sPreface

ListofFigures

T.1 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationoftherisottoexample.... 33

2.1 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationofthetwo-propositions modeloftheNoAlternativesArgument............. 71

2.2 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationofthefour-propositions modeloftheNoAlternativesArgument............. 72

3.1 StructureoftheNoMiraclesArgumentasatwo-stepargument fromthepredictivesuccessofatheorytoitstruth....... 83

3.2 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationoftherelationbetweenempiricaladequacyandpredictivesuccess.............. 84

3.3 ScopeoftheNoMiraclesArgumentinanaïveBayesianmodel, representedgraphically....................... 87

3.4 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationoftherelationbetweenempiricaladequacy,predictivesuccessandtheoreticalstability.. 90

3.5 ScopeoftheNoMiraclesArgumentintherevisedformulation oftheBayesianmodel........................ 92

3.6 Degreeofconfirmationfortheempiricaladequacyofastable andsuccessfultheory........................ 93

3.7 ScopeoftheNoMiraclesArgumentintherevisedformulation oftheBayesianmodel,withdifferentparametervalues.... 95

4.1 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationofthemedicineexample... 116

4.2 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationoftheastronomyexample.. 118

4.3 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationoftheeconomicsexample.. 120

6 1 Twostructurallyidentical dag’swithandwithoutacausal intervention.............................. 158

6 2dag withmediatorsonthepathsfromcausetoeffect...... 161

6 3dag representingcausationalongasinglepath......... 166

6 4dag withacausallyirrelevantvariable.............. 168

6 5dag representingasimplecommoncausestructure....... 172

6 6dag representingcausationalongasinglepath......... 179

7 1 CausalstructureofthevignettebyKominskyetal.(2015)... 189

8 1 GeneralizedNagel–Schaffnermodelofreduction........ 210

8 2 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationofthesituationbeforean intertheoreticreduction....................... 213

8 3 Bayesiannetworkrepresentationofthesituationafteranintertheoreticreduction.......................... 214

9.1 Visualizationofthe p-valuefortestingthemeanofaNormal distribution.............................. 228

9.2 DegreeofcorroborationofthenullhypothesisH0....... 250

10.1 Linearandquadraticmodelfittedtoascatterplotofdata... 264

11.1 DefaultCauchypriorbyRouderetal.(2009)versus “knowledge-basedprior”byBem,UttsandJohnson(2011).. 303

11.2 RobustnessanalysisofWagenmakersetal. 2011afortheBayes factorinBem’s(2011)experiments................. 305

12.1 Graphicalrepresentationofthesuppositionalanalysisofconditionaldegreeofbelief....................... 318

ListofTables

T.1 SchematicoverviewoftheargumentsforProbabilism..... 8

T.2 Dutchbookargumentindefenseofthethirdaxiomofprobability..................................

T.3 MotivationoftheSure-ThingPrinciple..............

T.4 ClassicalInstanceoftheEllsbergParadox............

T.5 DutchBookargumentindefenseof ratioanalysis ofconditionaldegreesofbelief........................

T.6 GlossaryofcoreBayesianterms..................

1.1 MotivatingexamplefortheprincipleofLocalEquivalence..

1.2 I.J.Good’s(1967)counterexampletotheNicodCondition... 52

1.3 Listofpopularmeasuresofconfirmationasincreaseinfirmness. 56

4.1 Probabilitydistributionsforminimizingan f-divergence.... 126

4.2 Probabilitydistributionsforupdatingonthematerialconditional..................................

6.1 Listofpopularmeasuresofcausalstrength...........

6.2 Classificationofmeasuresofcausalstrengthaccordingtothe adequacyconditionstheysatisify.................

6.3 Overviewofcausalstrengthmeasuresandtheircharacteristic properties...............................

7.1 Classificationofdifferentmeasuresofexplanatorypoweraccordingtotheadequacyconditionstheysatisfy.........

10.1 OptimalMinimumMessageLengthpartitioningofthesample space..................................

11.1 ClassificationofBayesFactorsaccordingtoLeeandWagenmakers 2014..............................

11.2 CalculationoftheBayesfactor BF10 fortheexperimentaldata inBem 2011,usingtwodifferentpriors..............

C.1 OverviewofthemethodsusedintheindividualVariations.. 332

BookOverview

Theplanforthisbookemergedin 2011,whenwenoticedthatwewereboth usingBayesianmodelsforexplicatingcentralscientificconceptsandcapturingargumentsinscientificreasoning,sometimesindividually,sometimes together.Wealsodiscoveredalotofcommonthemesinourwork;however, theseparallelsweredifficulttobringoutinthecompressedformofajournal articleorcontributiontoaneditedvolume.Sowedecidedtosystematizeand synthesizeourworkinamonographwiththelabel“BayesianPhilosophy ofScience”,allowingthereadertoappreciatethemanifolduseofBayesian modelsinphilosophyofscience—philosophicalfoundations,conceptual advancesandpracticalapplicationsinstatisticalinference.

Insomesense,thisbookisasummaryoftheworkthatwehavedoneover thepasttenyears.Theideathatrationaldegreesofbeliefcanbedescribed bytheprobabilitycalculusandchangedviaaspecificformula—Bayesian Conditionalization—isarecurringmotiveinthebookandweconjoinitwith centralissuesofphilosophyofscience.Wedonotprovidenewphilosophical foundationsforrationalbelief,nordowedefendaparticularvarietyof Bayesianreasoning.Inthisrespect,thebookisdifferentfrommonographs thataimatrethinkingthefoundationsofrationalbelief,knowledgeorrationaldecision-making(Levi 1980;Buchak 2013;Pettigrew 2016;Moss 2018). Comparedtothosepublications,oureffortdevotesmorespacetoproblems thataretypicalofscientificreasoning,andtoconceptsthatarecentralin (general)philosophyofscience,suchascausation,explanationandconfirmation.ThesameholdswithrespecttoHenryKyburg’s(1961; 1974)classics onprobabilityandinference,RichardJeffrey’s(2004)primeronsubjective probabilityandFranzHuber’s(2019)recenttextbookonprobabilityand induction.

Brösselforthcomingisclosertoourproject,butwhilethatauthorshares ourinterestinBayesianreasoningandconfirmatoryrelationships,hiswork ismorefirmlyanchoredinformalepistemology.FromWilliamson 2017,we

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