A Note on Hempel's Paradox
Abstract
In this paper, Hempel’s paradox is revisited, a paradox that arises from the observation of a black raven which inductively confirms the generalization “All ravens are black”, but can also be interpreted as supporting the statement “All swans are white”. The proposed resolution leverages the non-monotonic nature of inductive inference, suggesting that two distinct inferences from the same observation are not required to yield the same outcome. This exploration underscores the importance of the non-monotonic nature of induction, hinting at its reflection of the contextual and situated nature of human knowledge. There are many underlying epistemological questions that I do not consider here for the sake of simplicity. I have dealt with them in previous works. Of course all these remarks are only a sketch of a better developed theory that is still to be realized.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Epistemology
Ethics
and Metaphysics
Philosophy and History of Science
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Qeios
- Publication date
- 8 January 2026
- Document type
- Preprint