Application of approximate reasoning to hypothesis verification

Abstract

Lotfi Zadeh’s recent ideas on his extended logic, the FLe approach, is applied to hypothesis verification from the standpoint of the philosophy of science. First, such typical conventional hypothesis verification methods as disjunctive and modus tollens syllogisms are presented. Second, Zadeh’s extended logic, which stems from approximate reasoning, is sketched. Third, application of the FLe to hypothesis verification is considered at metalevel. In particular, the hypothetico-deductive model and statistical reasoning are examined.