Recording available: Click here
Speaker: Hykel Hosni
Date and Time: Thursday, March 30th 2023, 16:30-18:00
Venue: online only. (i.e. not hybrid!)
Title: Inference in Scientific Inference.
Abstract. It is commonplace to refer to probability and statistics as ”the logic of science”. Indeed, scientific practice features a number of more or less codified inferential procedures based on them. The most well-known example is Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST). A related example is Strong Inference, which enjoys some popularity in the life sciences. Applications of those inferential procedures are as ubiquitous as they are controversial. And yet, with some notable exceptions, the community of logicians doesn’t seem to have taken too much interest in the topic. The main goal of this talk is to make a case for this being relevant both to epistemology (i.e. what logic can contribute to scientific practice) and to logic (i.e. which logical questions arise in this context). The talk is divided into two parts. The first will motivate and pose the question. The second will illustrate some initial results obtained in collaboration with Paolo Baldi and Esther Anna Corsi.