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Enough blanket metaphysics, time for data-driven heuristics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

Wiktor Rorot Open the ORCID record for Wiktor Rorot [Opens in a new window] ,
Tomasz Korbak Open the ORCID record for Tomasz Korbak [Opens in a new window] ,
Piotr Litwin Open the ORCID record for Piotr Litwin [Opens in a new window]  and
Marcin Miłkowski Open the ORCID record for Marcin Miłkowski [Opens in a new window]
Wiktor Rorot
Affiliation:
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Warsaw, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland [email protected] https://wiktor.rorot.pl Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, 00-183 Warszawa, Poland [email protected]
Tomasz Korbak
Affiliation:
Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RH, UK [email protected] https://tomekkorbak.com
Piotr Litwin
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, 00-183 Warszawa, Poland [email protected]
Marcin Miłkowski
Affiliation:
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-330 Warszawa, Poland [email protected] http://marcinmilkowski.pl/
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Abstract

Bruineberg and colleagues criticisms' have been received but downplayed in the free energy principle (FEP) literature. We strengthen their points, arguing that Friston blanket discovery, even if tractable, requires a full formal description of the system of interest at the outset. Hence, blanket metaphysics is futile, and we postulate that researchers should turn back to heuristic uses of Pearl blankets.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e206
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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