Variety-of-evidence reasoning about the distant past: A case study in paleoclimate reconstruction

European Journal for Philosophy of Science 7 (2):257-265 (2017)
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Abstract

The epistemology of studies addressing questions about historical and prehistorical phenomena is a subject of increasing discussion among philosophers of science. A related field of inquiry that has yet to be connected to this topic is the epistemology of climate science. Branching these areas of research, I show how variety-of-evidence reasoning accounts for scientific inferences about the past by detailing a case study in paleoclimate reconstruction. This analysis aims to clarify the logic of historical inquiry in general and, by focusing on a case study about climate change, it offers an epistemic account of a particular discipline that is of environmental and social importance.

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10.1007/s13194-016-0156-y

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Martin Vezer
Pennsylvania State University

Citations of this work

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Kon-Tiki Experiments.Aaron Novick, Adrian M. Currie, Eden W. McQueen & Nathan L. Brouwer - 2020 - Philosophy of Science 87 (2):213-236.
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Studies in the logic of explanation.Carl Gustav Hempel & Paul Oppenheim - 1948 - Philosophy of Science 15 (2):135-175.
Studies in the Logic of Explanation.Carl Hempel & Paul Oppenheim - 1948 - Journal of Symbolic Logic 14 (2):133-133.

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