Brown Bag Lunch: Branden Fitelson

You are cordially invited to the following brown bag lunch.

February 20, 2009
1:00 p.m.
Goodbody Hall 130

Branden Fitelson, Dept. of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley, will present, "The Wason Task(s) and The Paradox of Confirmation."

Abstract:
I will sketch out the analogy between the Wason Task(s) and the Paradox of Confirmation. This will mainly involve going through some existing historical discussions concerning the analogy, and developing a precise framework for refining and critiquing the analogy. I will explain what I think is right about the existing literature, and also what I think is wrong with it (i.e., what I think the disanalogies are). Along the way, I will make various historical observations about confirmation theory and some of the contemporary evaluative assessments of the behavior of subjects faced with Wason Task(s).