Inference to the Best Theory, Rather than Inference to the Best Explanation — Kinds of Abduction and Induction

Abstract

An interesting consequence of the structuralist theory of truth approximation, as developed in my From Instrumentalism to Constructive Realism (2000), henceforth ICR, concerns so-called ‘inference to the best explanation’ (IBE). It will be argued that this popular rule among scientific realists can better be replaced by, various kinds of, ‘inference to the best theory’ (IBT).