FLAP Journal 2016 Journal Article
Abduction: from the Ignorance Problem to the Ignorance Virtue.
- Tommaso Bertolotti
- Selene Arfini
- Lorenzo Magnani
The ignorance issue afflicting abduction is usually intended as to what ex- tent it can be seen as an “ignorance-preserving” (or “ignorance-mitigating”) inference, and what this exactly means. In this paper, we will approach the issue of abduction and ignorance by leveraging the interplay of logical, episte- mological and cognitive views on the matter. In detail, after introducing the ambiguous relationship between ignorance and achievement, we will deal with the presence of the ignorance element in the traditional logical formalizations of abduction, which configures the ignorance problem. Then, we will reframe the situation in an epistemological and cognitive perspective, making room for the view of ignorance as a virtue enabling the emergence of successful creative abductions.