Relevance as difference-making
A generalized theory of relevance and its applications
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21370477 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerhard Schurz (0000-0002-4107-9240, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 181 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 2279-2316 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophical Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8116 • E-ISSN: 1573-0883 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11098-023-01988-6 |
| OpenAlex | W4385953415 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 50 |
In this paper a generalized account of relevance as difference-making is developed. It is argued that relevance should not be considered as a particular relation, but as a (higher-order) property of instances of arbitrary relations: namely the property that variations of the relata of the relation instance make a difference for its truth. This generalized account of relevance can be fruitfully applied in many domains, such as (i) logical reasoning with applications to explanation, confirmation, verisimilitude, is-ought inference, (ii) probabilistic reasoning with applications to explanation and confirmation, (iii) nomological and causal implication, (iv) communication, (v) grounding and (vi) essentiality. In conclusion, difference-making relevance is a highly unifying and fruitful philosophical concept
Cognition · Data mining · Epistemology · Inference · Metaphysics · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of science · Probabilistic logic · Property (philosophy) · Relation (database) · Relevance (law) · Relevance theory · Verisimilitude · Computer Science · Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Psychology
Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance
A Theory of Truthmaker Content I
The Pure Logic of Ground
I.—studies in the Logic of Confirmation (I.)
Relevant deontic logic
Aboutness
Metaphysical Grounding
On the Illusion of Consciousness
The Is-Ought Problem
Essence and Modality
Relevance
Zwart and Franssen’s impossibility theorem holds for possible-world-accounts but not for consequence-accounts to verisimilitude
Inductive explanation
On ground and consequence
Relevance and Redundancy in Deductive Explanations
A Pragmatic Approach to Explanations
Studies in the Logic of Explanation
Truth, Content, and the Hypothetico-Deductive Method
Putting the Irrelevance Back Into the Problem of Irrelevant Conjunction
Theories and the Transitivity of Confirmation
Hypothetico-Deductivism, Content, and the Natural Axiomatization of Theories
Verisimilitude Redefined
Genuine Confirmation and Tacking by Conjunction
Popper's Qualitative Theory of Verisimilitude
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |