Episode 294: The Scandal of Philosophy (Hume's Problem of Induction)

Very Bad Wizards

CD Broad called induction “the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy.” As a matter of habit, we’re all confident that the sun will rise tomorrow morning and that we can predict where the planets and stars will be tomorrow night. But what’s the rational justification for beliefs like this? According David Hume, there is none. Deductive justifications can’t give you new information about the world, and inductive justifications are circular, they beg the question. David and Tamler dive into the notorious problem of induction and some (failed?) attempts to offer a resolution.

Plus, an article about toddlers and small children who seem to remember their past lives – what should we make of these reports? And is "remembering a past life" and "being possessed by the ghost of that person" a distinction without a difference?

The Children Who Remember Past Lives [washington post.com]

Ian Stevenson - criticisms [wikipedia.org]

The Problem of Induction [plato.stanford.edu]

Salmon, W. C. (1978). Unfinished business: The problem of induction. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, 33(1), 1-19.