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Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, and the Philosophy of Discovery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Paul Thagard
Paul Thagard*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan-Dearborn
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Extract

In their contributions to this volume, Bruce Buchanan (1983) and Lindley Darden (1983) have provided compelling reasons why philosophers of science concerned with the nature of scientific discovery should be aware of current work in artificial intelligence. Buchanan presents abundant examples of the mechanization of generation of empirical hypotheses in current AI programs, while Darden, at a more speculative level, discusses the use of analogy in theoretical discovery. The implication of both these studies is that the philosophy of discovery can profitably borrow notions from work in artificial intelligence, since useful analogies can be found between problems in that field and the problems facing philosophers studying scientific discovery.

I have no quarrel with this claim, except that it is too weak. I shall argue that work in AI is not only useful but essential for investigations in philosophy of science concerning discovery. The connecting link between the two fields is empirical cognitive psychology.

Type
Part III. Discovery, Heuristics, and Artificial Intelligence
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1982 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1982 , 1982 , pp. 166 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

1

I am grateful for useful discussions with Keith Holyoak, Lindley Darden, and Bruce Buchanan.

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