Philosophies, Vol. 10, Pages 101: Cosmic Conundrums, Common Origins, and Omnivorous Constraints

Philosophies doi: 10.3390/philosophies10050101

Authors:
Patrick M. Duerr
William J. Wolf

The paper revisits Janssen’s proposal of Common Origin Inferences (COIs), a powerful and scientifically fruitful inference pattern that (causally) traces striking coincidences back to a common origin. According to Janssen, COIs are a decisive engine for rational theory change across disciplines and eras. After a careful reconstruction of Janssen’s central tenets, we critically assess them, highlighting three key shortcomings: its strong realist and ontological commitments, its restriction to (or strong penchant for) causal/ontic explanations, and its intended employment for conferring evidential-epistemic status. To remedy these shortcomings, we moot a natural generalisation and amelioration of Janssen’s original conception—COI*s: Constraint-Omnivorous Inferences. COI*s warrant inference to pursuit-worthy hypotheses: it is rational to further study, work on, elaborate/refine or test hypotheses that account for multiple constraints in one fell swoop. As a demonstration of the utility of COI* reasoning, we finally show how it sheds light on, and dovetails, the three most significant breakthroughs in recent cosmology: the Dark Matter hypothesis, the Dark Energy postulate, and the theory of cosmic inflation.

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Patrick M. Duerr www.mdpi.com