For the mathematical term involving systems of linear equations, see Underdetermined system.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations.(March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
In the philosophy of science, underdetermination or the underdetermination of theory by data (sometimes abbreviated UTD) is the idea that evidence available to us at a given time may be insufficient to determine what beliefs we should hold in response to it.[1] The underdetermination thesis says that all evidence necessarily underdetermines any scientific theory.[2]
Underdetermination exists when available evidence is insufficient to identify which belief one should hold about that evidence. For example, if all that was known was that exactly $10 were spent on apples and oranges, and that apples cost $1 and oranges $2, then one would know enough to eliminate some possibilities (e.g., 6 oranges could not have been purchased), but one would not have enough evidence to know which specific combination of apples and oranges were purchased. In this example, one would say that belief in what combination was purchased is underdetermined by the available evidence.
In contrast, overdetermination in philosophy of science means that more evidence is available than is necessary to justify a conclusion.
^"Underdetermination of Scientific Theory". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2017.
^Norton, John D. (July 9–12, 2003). "Must Evidence Underdetermine Theory?" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-04-07.
and 25 Related for: Underdetermination information
In the philosophy of science, underdetermination or the underdetermination of theory by data (sometimes abbreviated UTD) is the idea that evidence available...
motivated his holism through extending Pierre Duhem's problem of underdetermination in physical theory to all knowledge claims. Duhem's idea was, roughly...
physics. Another argument against scientific realism, deriving from the underdetermination problem, is not so historically motivated as these others. It claims...
threatening this role are the problem of underdetermination and theory-ladenness. The problem of underdetermination concerns the fact that the available evidence...
issues for the scientific conception of evidence are the problem of underdetermination, i.e. that the available evidence may support competing theories equally...
inconsistent theory is at least as consistent with the evidence. Underdetermination is an epistemological issue about the relation of evidence to conclusions...
to some controversy in the philosophy of language study of meaning underdetermination after a judge had to consider whether a burrito was a sandwich for...
secrets]. Langages 25.101:11-29. Vaux, Bert and Andrew Nevins. 2003. "Underdetermination in language games: Survey and analysis of Pig Latin dialects." Linguistic...
ISBN 978-0-13-138022-6. Ludlow, Peter (2014). Living Words:Meaning Underdetermination and the Dynamic Lexicon. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-871205-3...
necessary to cause an effect. Overdetermination here is in contrast to underdetermination, when the number or strength of causes is insufficient. Freud wrote...
solipsism and postmodernism. Markus Seidel attacks the main arguments – underdetermination and norm-circularity – provided by Strong Programme proponents for...
said to cause or govern their behavior. Focusing on the problem of underdetermination, he argued for the possibility that theories could have empirical...
of reference, and (ii) holophrastic indeterminacy, and (iii) the underdetermination of scientific theory. The last of these, not discussed here, refers...
external world. This thought experiment is based on the problem of underdetermination, which arises when the available evidence is not sufficient to make...
solve the demarcation problem. The Duhem-Quine thesis or problem of underdetermination posits no scientific hypothesis can be understood in isolation, a...
y(t)=B\cdot x(t)} Since the chief difficulty of the problem is its underdetermination, methods for blind source separation generally seek to narrow the...
equally well.. a century before Duhem and Quine's famous arguments for Underdetermination." "Goethe's critique of Newton was not an attack on reason or science...
interpretations could be imagined. "I wish to say that there is a radical underdetermination of what is said by the literal meaning..." emphasizes Searle. The...
ambiguity can be considered to be an instance of the logical concept of underdetermination—for example, X = Y {\displaystyle X=Y} leaves open what the value...
categories, and some authors see in the inscrutability of reference an underdetermination of relativism. In his indeterminacy of translation theory Quine claims...
holism is much more restricted and limited than Quine's. For Duhem, underdetermination applies only to physics or possibly to natural science, while for...
the values of relations. Presently, Chiranjeevi lands in the city underdetermination to admit Viswanath to the finest school. At the outset, a scammer...
Global Information