| 释义 |
retroˈdiction
[f. retro- + diction, after prediction n.]
The explanation or interpretation of past actions or events inferred from the laws that are assumed to have governed them. Cf. postdiction.
1895J. M. Robertson Buckle & his Critics x. 311 Let us first put a little order in our conception of prediction and ‘retrodiction’ as they indisputably take place in the settled sciences. Ibid. 316 The same reasoning applies to errors of interpretation, of what we have called ‘retrodiction’. 1939Mind XLVIII. 421 L-propositions are plainly useless save in so far as they assist prediction—or retro-diction—as to particular matters of fact. 1940Philosophy XV. 22 It may be what Mr Ryle calls a retrodiction, as when I infer from marks seen in the snow that a cat has passed that way. 1956J. N. Findlay in H. D. Lewis Contemp. Brit. Philos. 185 Prediction and retrodiction alike depend on the presence in our world of what have been called ‘world-lines’. 1960I. Berlin in W. H. Dray Philos. Analysis & Hist. (1966) 13 In the case of an historical study, retrodiction—filling in gaps in the past for which no direct testimony exists with the aid of extrapolation performed according to relevant rules or laws. 1975J. W. Cornman Perception, Common Sense & Sci. viii. 302 The argument based on retrodiction might prompt another reply, namely, that the supposed fact of retrodiction violates Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Ibid. 303 Epistemic and causal indeterminacy limit prediction but not retrodiction.
Hence (as a back-formation) retroˈdict v. trans. and absol., to infer by retrodiction (cf. postdict v.); retroˈdicting vbl. n. Also retroˈdictable, retroˈdictive adjs., retroˈdictively adv.
1932H. H. Price Perception vii. 201 Any perceptual act is bound to be among other things a prediction,..and in the same way it must be ‘retrodictive’ as well. 1949G. Ryle Concept of Mind v. 124 They are inference-tickets, which license us to predict, retrodict, explain and modify these actions, reactions and states. 1951W. H. Walsh Introd. Philos. Hist. ii. 41 It has been said that whilst it is certainly not the business of historians to predict the future, it is very much their business to ‘retrodict’ the past. 1952Mind LXI. 225 Attempts to predict or retrodict when no grounds for rational belief are obtainable. 1956E. H. Hutten Lang. Mod. Physics vi. 222 We now interpret ‘causality’ as meaning that there can be formulated a universal sentence which..allows us to derive a singular, descriptive, predictive or retrodictive, sentence. 1959J. Blish Clash of Cymbals v. 104 Time in our experience is not retrodictable. Ibid. 105 Can we write a convergent retrodictive equation? 1966C. G. Hempel Philos. Nat. Sci. vi. 72 The theory was used by Halley.. to identify it retrodictively with comets whose appearances had been recorded on six previous occasions. 1975J. W. Cornman Perception, Common Sense & Sci. viii. 303 Is there any reason to think that retrodicting the position and momentum of an entity more precisely than stated by the uncertainty principle violates the principle? 1976Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Aug. 1057/4 What a historical model is meant to do: not to allow us to predict or retrodict..but to provide insight into and explanations of historical events. |