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Cognitive-Constructivism, Quine, Dogmas of Empiricism, and Münchhausen’s Trilemma

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Interdisciplinary Bayesian Statistics

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 118))

Abstract

The Bayesian research group at University of São Paulo has been exploring a specific version of cognitive constructivism (Cog-Con) that has, among its most salient features, a distinctive objective character. Cog-Con is supported by a specially designed measure of statistical significance, namely, \({\mbox{ev}}(H{\vert} X)\)—the Bayesian epistemic value of sharp hypotheses H, given the observed data X. This article explores possible parallels or contrasts between Cog-Con and the epistemological framework developed by the philosopher Willard van Orman Quine.

A gente vive repetido, o repetido… Digo: O real não está na saída nem na chegada: Ele se dispõem para a gente é no meio da travessia. …Existe é homem humano. Travessia.

João Guimarães Rosa (1908–1967); Grande Sertão, Veredas.

We live repeating the repeated… I say: What’s real can be found neither at departure nor upon arrival: It only becomes available during the journey. …What exists is the living man; Crossing-over.

Warum ist Wahrheit fern und weit? Birgt sich hinab in tiefste Gründe? Niemand versteht zur rechten Zeit! Wenn man zur rechten Zeit verstünde, So wäre Wahrheit nah und breit, Und wäre lieblich und gelinde.

Goethe (1749–1832); Westöstlicher Diwan. As quoted in Rosenzweig (1921).

Why is truth so remote and far away? Down at the deepest bottom hold astray? Nobody understands its proper time! If, however, in its due time understood; Then truth would be close and sublime; And would be graceful and good.

…the idea of circularity: That’s where everything begins.

Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002); Understanding Systems.

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful for the support received from IME-USP, the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of São Paulo; FAPESP, the São Paulo Research Foundation (grant CEPID 2013/07375-0); and CNPq, the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (grant PQ-306318-2008-3). The author is also grateful for helpful discussions with several of his professional colleagues and for advice received from anonymous referees. Finally, the author is grateful for the organizers and the constructive criticism received from the following discussion fora: EBEB-2014, the XII Brazilian Meeting on Bayesian Statistics, held on March 10-14 at Atibaia, Brazil; EBL-2014, the XVII Brazilian Logic Conference, held on April 7-11 at LNCC, the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing, Petrópolis, Brazil; ALFAn-2014, the III LatinAmericanAnalytic Philosophy Conference, held on May 27-31 at Fortaleza, Brazil; and MaxEnt-2014, the XXXIV InternationalWorkshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, held on September 21–26, Amboise, France.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mathematics and Statistics (IME-USP), University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Julio Michael Stern

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  1. Julio Michael Stern
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos, Brazil

    Adriano Polpo

  2. University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Brazil

    Francisco Louzada

  3. Campinas State University, Campinas, Brazil

    Laura L. R. Rifo

  4. Dept. of Applied Mathematics, University of Sao Paulo Institute of Mathematics and Statistics, Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Julio M. Stern

  5. School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marcelo Lauretto

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Stern, J. (2015). Cognitive-Constructivism, Quine, Dogmas of Empiricism, and Münchhausen’s Trilemma. In: Polpo, A., Louzada, F., Rifo, L., Stern, J., Lauretto, M. (eds) Interdisciplinary Bayesian Statistics. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 118. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12454-4_5

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