INFERENCE TO THE BEST EXPLANATION - IS IT REALLY DIFFERENT FROM MILLSMETHODS

Peter Lipton has attempted to flesh out a model of Inference to the Be st Explanation (IBE) by clarifying explanation in terms of a causal mo del. But Lipton's account of explanation makes an adequate explanation depend on a principle which is virtually identical to Mill's Method o f Difference. This has the result of collapsing IBE on Lipton's accoun t of it into causal inference as conceived by the Causal-Inference mod el of induction. According to this model, many of our inductions are i nferences from effects to their probable causes, and Mill's Methods ar e canons to guide such inferences. Thus, Lipton's account of IBE fails to represent an advance over the already familiar Causal-Inference Mo del of induction.