Anyway, I was explaining why it’s not so strange that the reliability of a theory should depend on what false theories people have proposed in the past. Even inductivists speak of a theory being reliable or not, given certain ‘evidence’. Well, Popperians might speak of a theory being the best available for use in practice, given a certain problem-situation. And the most important features of a problem-situation are: what theories and explanations are in contention, what arguments have been advanced, and what theories have been refuted. ‘Corroboration’ is not just the confirmation of the
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