Inferring and Explaining

viii PrefaCe book. We then turn our attention to some issues in the history and philosophy of science—the role of experiments, Semmelweis’s discovery of the causes of childbed fever, and Darwin’s theory of common descent by natural selection. Te book concludes with discussions of capital punishment, evidence as narrative, and some thoughts about the nature of evidence and truth. Critical Thinking This brings me to my second, and even more deeply held, prejudice as a philosophy teacher. I am committed to the value of critical thinking—or, as it is sometimes called, practical, or informal, logic—as a tool for undergraduate and professional success. I pretend littlemodesty here. I have heard from too many students that the techniques developed in chapters 4 through 12 have proven not just useful but essential in their other undergraduate and graduate classes, and indeed, in their professional lives. Where I do claim some modesty, however, is that I take little credit for discovering these techniques. Tey were all frst articulated by my friend andmentor, LarryWright. I had the honor of working with Larry as a teaching assistant when he was putting together his frst published articulation of inference to the best explanation as a procedure for argument analysis. 2 Tat grad- uate school experience fundamentally shaped my perception of what it is to be a philosopher and what it is to be an efective undergraduate teacher. Inference to the best explanation has gone on to inform much of what I have done in my professional scholarship. It has also guided my own teaching career. To Larry, I owe a debt of gratitude that cannot really be expressed. If this book accomplishes nothing else, I hope it at least tempts readers to utilize the somewhat structured, almost ritualistic procedure I amcall- ing the inference-to-the-best-explanation recipe as a test of the quality of evidence presented in an argument. I do believe that you will be pleas- antly surprised at how ofen it proves useful. To My Student Readers I want this book to be fun, interesting, and use- ful to you. Depending on your academic and intellectual personality, it may prove impossible to accomplish all these goals. But even if I fail in conveying the intrinsic interest in philosophical and intellectual questions, and even if you fnd my style boring or pedantic, I do hope you will discover the utility in the careful, systematic study and analysis of arguments. Inference to the best explanation is not the only approach to argument analysis (though I remain con- vinced it is the most valuable), but it is one that invites wide application to the kinds of argu- ments we fnd in our daily and professional lives and, of course, in the natural sciences and most of the rest of the typical undergraduate curriculum. If I have any readerswho arenot in formal phi- losophy courses or who are using this book as a supplementary source, I’d like to extend a sincere invitation. Each chapter concludes with some exercises andwhat I amcalling a quiz. If you’d like feedback on any or all of these, I would be happy to provide it. I should always be available at the following email address: jjohnson@eou.edu . Pleasedo feel free to contactmewithanyques- tions or requests for feedback. And, of course, I would welcome hearing about any mistakes,