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The Age of the Universe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Malcolm Acock
Malcolm Acock*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy University of Alabama in Birmingham
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Abstract

This paper discusses “Russell's hypothesis” that the world sprang into existence five minutes ago. The three most widely accepted “solutions” to the Russell's hypothesis problem are shown to be unsatisfactory.

Two main points of interest are involved in the paper's discussion. First, I show all the widely accepted “solutions” to be unacceptable by using the same device—alternatives to Russell's hypothesis. The device, which has never previously been applied to this problem, is a familiar one in discussions of the problem of induction. (Parallels between these two problems are sketched at the paper's end.) Second, the discussion introduces the new concept of crucial consequences for hypotheses that are otherwise different in only trivial linguistic ways.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 1983 , pp. 130 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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