Adequate World Hypothesis

Continuing improvement of Scope and Precision in a System of Structural Hypotheses, at some point, reaches a level that may be declared as adequate.

> ยง3. _World hypotheses demanded by structural corroboration_ -- It thus becomes clear that, in the pursuit of re liability, structural corroboration does not stop until it reaches unlimited scope. For as long as there are outlying facts which might not corroborate the facts already organized by the structural hypothesis, so long will the reliability of that hypothesis be questionable. The ideal structural hypothesis, therefore, is one that all facts will corroborate, a hypothesis of unlimited scope. Such a hypothesis is a world hypothesis.

Pepper had previously introduced the phrase "systems of structural corroboration" [p. 73]. Whether that system is adequate or inadequate is a judgement, both through (i) the refining of the strength of the structural corroboration and (ii) the assuring the absence of disturbing facts from outside the limited field.

digraph PepperCh04AdequateInadequate { // Global setup rankdir = BT // Node list wh [shape=box color="green" label="World\nHypotheses"] inad [shape=box style="rounded" color="brown" label="Inadequate"] ad [shape=box style="rounded" color="brown" label="Adequate"] subgraph cluster_SSH { color="green" labelloc=t label="System of Structural Hypotheses" {rank = same inad ad} } rcog [shape=oval color="blue" label="Refining Cognition via\nCorroborating Structurally"] and [shape=oval color="blue" label="Assuring\nthe\nAbsence\nof\nDisturbing\nFacts\nfrom\nOutside\nthe\nLimited\nField"] dp [shape=oval color="blue" label="Developing\nthe\nPrecision\nof\nthe\nHypothesis"] ds [shape=oval color="blue" label="Developing\nthe\nScope\nof\nthe\nHypothesis"] dn [shape=oval color="blue" label="Discriminating\nthe\nHypothesis\nin\nGreater\nDetail"] er [shape=oval color="blue" label="Finding\nMore\nCorroborative\nFacts\nfor the\nHypothesis"] // Adding edges ad -> wh [ltail=cluster_SSH arrowhead="curve" arrowsize="1.5" label="is\nexhibited\nby"] and -> rcog [arrowhead="odot" label="is\nrequired\nby"] inad -> rcog [arrowhead="onormal" arrowsize="0.8" label="state\nchanges\nthrough"] rcog -> ad [arrowhead="onormal" arrowsize="0.8" label="changes\n\state\nto"] dp -> rcog [arrowhead="onormal" arrowsize="1.5" label="is part of\n(consists)"] ds -> rcog [arrowhead="onormal" arrowsize="1.5" label="is part of\n(consists)"] dn -> dp [arrowhead="curve" arrowsize="1.5" label="is\nexhibited\nby"] er -> ds [arrowhead="curve" arrowsize="1.5" label="is\nexhibited\nby"] }