Objection · Case 07 · Philosophy
Peirce’s abduction is about generating hypotheses, not confirming them. He would have said the resurrection hypothesis is worth testing, not that it has been established.
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
A fair distinction. Peirce’s abduction is the logic of hypothesis formation, and the modern inference to the best explanation (Harman, Lipton) extends it to justification. The arguments on this site use the modern form. Peirce is cited for pedigree, and his own view of the justificatory step was more cautious than the modern one, which is worth knowing when someone invokes his name.
About this exhibit
This objection is to Charles Sanders Peirce, origin of the concept.
Peirce, an American logician working in the last third of the 1800s, first named and described this pattern, using the terms abduction and retroduction. He treated it as a distinct third kind of…
Under Claim 02: Inference to the best explanation is a recognized form of reasoning used across science, history, law, and medicine.