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"Logic of Statistical Inference"
After spending much of his early research on the concept of probability and statics, Ian Hacking began his series of books. In 1965 Ian Hacking published his first book titled, “Logic of Statistical Inference”, where he took his approach to analyze statistics through a philosophical lens. He examined fundamental principles that stood behind statistical reasoning and evaluated ways these principles are used. His purpose was to offer solutions to these problems at hand. -
Ian Hacking: February 18, 1936-May 10, 2023
Ian Hacking was born in Vancouver on February 18, 1936 and died in Toronto on May 10, 2023. Hacking studied at the University of British Columbia then later moved to University of Cambridge where he obtained his BA then later pursued his PhD in moral Science. (1962) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp7_iB9tsT8 -
"The Emergence of Probability"
A major focus for Hacking was researching, and showing how analytical and historical perspectives may work together. Hacking brought to light the understanding of the concept of probability, stressing to be aware of the importance of understanding that it has a dual nature and inherent tensions. He stated that on one hand it is connected to a degree of belief and the flip side it is connected with tendencies, measured by relative frequencies. This is what he called epistemic and aleatory. -
Representing and Intervening
Hacking addresses realism and the approach to theories of truth, posing the daunting questions of “Are our scientific theories true or approximately true? Do they even aim at truth? And do the entities and quarks and the like postulated by these theories exist?” Through his arguments, he opens a new door to looking at the outcomes of many theories in history, the truth of theories that have led to ‘inconclusive’ outcomes. Instead, Hacking develops the argument to ‘existence of entities’ realism. -
"Taming the Chance"
Hacking's work continues through this title. Throughout his books, he has paved the way for how we look at science and philosophy. We need to shift from seeing events in the world as being causally decided to thinking of them as surfacing from a set of probabilistic laws and/or regularities. Ultimately it is a question of metaphysics not mathematics. Hacking's research was the center piece between academic debates on how science is understood. -
Resources
Barnouw, Jeffrey. Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 1979, pp. 438–43. JSTOR, Kitcher, Philip S.. "philosophy of science". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Jul. 2024, Hacking, Ian. The Emergence of Probability: A Philosophical Study of Early Ideas about Probability, Induction and Statistical Inference. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. -
Resources continued
Hacking, Ian. “The Argument.” The Taming of Chance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 1–10. Print. Ideas in Context. Cantara, Annie. "Ian Hacking". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ian-Hacking. Accessed 2 August 2024. Barnouw, Jeffrey. Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 1979, pp. 438–43. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2738528. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.