Miguel López-Astorga
Institute of Humanistic Studies, University of Talca, Talca Campus (Chile). Email: milopez@utalca.cl.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.30
First published: June 30, 2022 | Area: Scientific Philosophy | License: CC BY-NC 4.0
(This article is published under Volume 14, Number 2, 2022)
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Abstract
The present paper uses Carnap’s reduction concept to address the problem of new severe acute hepatitis in children. First, it tries to show how that concept can help understand why some previous hypotheses of causality on the new hepatitis in children should be rejected. Second, Carnap’s reduction concept is used to explain a complex hypothesis about the causes of that disease proposed in The Lancet in 2022. The latter hypothesis combines several factors: infection by SARS-CoV-2, a build-up of this virus in the bowel that comes in contact with blood circulation, and another infection by adenovirus. One of the points of the paper is to argue that a hypothesis can be described by means of a bilateral reduction sentence, which in turn would allow empirical comparison of the hypothesis in an easy way. Finally, the author considers a current cognitive framework, namely, the theory of mental models, to propose that bilateral reduction sentences should not be hard to handle for physicians or scientists.
Keywords: adenovirus; reduction; SARS-CoV-2; severe acute hepatitis in children; theory of mental models
Introduction
Several cases of a new ‘severe acute hepatitis in children were reported around the world in 2022 (e.g., Brodin & Arditi, 2022). Physicians and researchers tried to find, by all means, an explanation and the causes of those cases (see also, e.g., Cañelles, 2022). In the process, some hypotheses were ruled out. Some of them were, for example, to deem the new hepatitis as a disease equivalent to one of the five kinds of hepatitis already known, or an adenovirus (Brodin & Artidi, 2022; Cañelles, 2022).
After rejecting other hypotheses as well, one more hypothesis was proposed. This new hypothesis, in principle, seemed difficult to verify. It claimed that several elements acting at the same time cause the severe acute hepatitis in children. The new hepatitis would appear when there is a SARS-CoV-2 infection and, as a result, the virus accumulates in the intestine. Then, the virus would enter the blood and flow throughout the body. At once, the liver would be inflamed because of an adenovirus infection (Brodin & Artidi, 2022; Cañelles, 2022).
This hypothesis appears to be hard to contrast. However, the main goal of the present paper is to show otherwise. If the procedure Carnap (1936, 1937) offered to relate properties or predicates, that is, his reduction process is assumed, the task of empirical confirmation may not be so difficult. The literature reveals that, if it is accepted that the human mind follows, in its inferential processes, what the theory of mental models (e.g., Khemlani, Byrne, & Johnson-Laird, 2018) indicates, that procedure is not difficult at all (e.g., López-Astorga, 2021).
To achieve that goal, the present paper will have three sections. In the first section, some of the previous hypotheses about the causes of the new hepatitis in children will be taken as examples. The aim will be to explain how Carnap’s reduction processes can help reveal the reasons why those hypotheses are not admissible. The second section will describe the complex hypothesis pointed out above. It will be argued that, despite what may be thought, Carnap’s concept of reduction can lead to simple confirmations of that hypothesis. Based on the literature, the final section will show that to apply Carnap’s reduction procedure to that hypothesis is not hard for people, at least, if the theses of the theory of mental models are right… Full-Text PDF
