Abstract
This article discusses the relation between features of empirical data and structures in the world. I defend the following claims. Any empirical data set exhibits all possible patterns, each with a certain noise term. The magnitude and other properties of this noise term are irrelevant to the evidential status of a pattern: all patterns exhibited in empirical data constitute evidence of structures in the world. Furthermore, distinct patterns constitute evidence of distinct structures in the world. It follows that the world must be regarded as containing all possible structures. The remainder of the article is devoted to elucidating the meaning and implications of the latter claim.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bogen, J. (2009). ‘Saving the phenomena’ and saving the phenomena. Synthese. doi:10.1007/s11229-009-9619-4.
Bogen J., Woodward J. (1988) Saving the phenomena. Philosophical Review 97: 303–352
Burroughs W. J. (2003) Weather cycles: Real or imaginary? (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Grenander U. (1996) Elements of pattern theory. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD
Koertge N. (1977) Galileo and the problem of accidents. Journal of the History of Ideas 38: 389–408
Kosko B. (2006) Noise. Viking, New York
Li M., Vitányi P. M. B. (1997) An introduction to Kolmogorov complexity and its applications (2nd ed.). Springer, Berlin
Mann M. E., Bradley R. S., Hughes M. K. (1998) Global-scale temperature patterns and climate forcing over the past six centuries. Nature 392: 779–787
McAllister J. W. (1997) Phenomena and patterns in data sets. Erkenntnis 47: 217–228
McAllister J. W. (2003) Algorithmic randomness in empirical data. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 34: 633–646
McAllister J.W. (2005) The virtual laboratory: Thought experiments in seventeenth-century mechanics. In: Schramm H., Schwarte L., Lazardzig J. (eds) Collection, laboratory, theater: Scenes of knowledge in the 17th century. De Gruyter, New York, pp 35–56
McAllister J. W. (2007) Model selection and the multiplicity of patterns in empirical data. Philosophy of Science 74: 884–894
Partridge R. B. (1995) 3 K: The cosmic microwave background radiation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Ruddiman W. F. (2008) Earth’s climate: Past and future (2nd ed.). W. H. Freeman, New York
Weinberg S. (2008) Cosmology. Oxford University Press, Oxford
White D.R., Galleano R., Actis A., Brixy H., De Groot M., Dubbeldam J. et al (1996) The status of Johnson noise thermometry. Metrologia 33: 325–335
Woodward J. (1989) Data and phenomena. Synthese 79: 393–472
Woodward, J. (2009). Data and phenomena: A restatement and defense. Synthese. doi:10.1007/s11229-009-9618-5.
Acknowledgements
I dedicate this article to the memory of Daniela Bailer-Jones (1969–2006), who established and led the research programme, “Kausalität, Kognition und die Konstitution naturwissenschaftlicher Phänomene”, at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. I presented a first draft at the conference, “Data—Phenomena—Theories: What’s the Notion of a Scientific Phenomenon Good for?”, Heidelberg, September 2008. I thank the organizers for inviting me to speak and the participants for valuable comments. I am especially grateful to James Bogen and James Woodward for cordial and constructive exchanges.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
McAllister, J.W. What do patterns in empirical data tell us about the structure of the world?. Synthese 182, 73–87 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9613-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9613-x