Concept
Consilience
Overview
In science and history, consilience (also convergence of evidence or concordance of evidence) is the principle that evidence from independent, unrelated sources can "converge" on strong conclusions. That is, when multiple sources of evidence are in agreement, the conclusion can be very strong even when none of the individual sources of evidence is significantly so on its own. Most established scientific knowledge is supported by a convergence of evidence: if not, the evidence is comparatively weak, and there will probably not be a strong scientific consensus.
The principle is based on unity of knowledge; measuring the same result by several different methods should lead to the same answer. For example, it should not matter whether one measures distances within the Giza pyramid complex by laser rangefinding, by satellite imaging, or with a metre-stick – in all three cases, the answer should be approximately the same. For the same reason, different dating methods in geochronology should concur, a result in chemistry should not contradict a result in geology, etc.
The word consilience was originally coined as the phrase "consilience of inductions" by William Whewell (consilience refers to a "jumping together" of knowledge). The word comes from Latin com- "together" and -siliens "jumping" (as in resilience).
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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To certain facts, certain facts always do, and, as we believe, will continue to, succeed. The invariable antecedent is termed the cause; the invariable consequent, the effect. And the universality of the law of causation consists in this, that every consequent is connected in this manner with some particular antecedent, or set of antecedents.
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive
States what Consilience is.
There are not a law and an exception to that law, the law acting in ninety-nine cases, and the exception in one. There are two laws, each possibly acting in the whole hundred cases, and bringing about a common effect by their conjunct operation. If the force which, being the less conspicuous of the two, is called the _disturbing_ force, prevails sufficiently over the other force in some one case, to constitute that…
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic
States what Consilience is.
The particular habit of mind which governs this or that inference may be formulated in a proposition whose truth depends on the validity of the inferences which the habit determines; and such a formula is called a _guiding principle_ of inference. Suppose, for example, that we observe that a rotating disk of copper quickly comes to rest when placed between the poles of a magnet, and we infer that this will happen…
Charles S. Peirce, Chance, Love, and Logic
States what Consilience is.
Philosophers who discussed Consilience
Related ideas
- Falsifiability
- General relativity
- Genetics
- Julius Caesar
- Ancient Greek philosophy
- Latin
- Middle Ages
- Molecular biology
- William Whewell
- Evidence
- Neuron
- Psychology
- Quantum mechanics
- Renaissance
- Sun
- Scientific realism
- Mysticism
- Scientific Revolution
- The arts
- Age of Enlightenment
- Intrinsic and extrinsic properties
- Emergence
- Cosmos
- Inductive reasoning
Place in the tradition
Part of Philosophy of mathematics.