Frequentist Statistics as Internalist Reliabilism

TL;DR

This paper argues that frequentist statistics can be understood as a form of internalist reliabilism, challenging the common view that reliabilism is inherently externalist, and aims to deepen the epistemological understanding of frequentist methods.

Contribution

It presents a novel interpretation of frequentist statistics as internalist reliabilism, expanding the philosophical understanding of statistical epistemology.

Findings

Frequentist statistics can be seen as internalist reliabilism.

This interpretation challenges the assumption that reliabilism is necessarily externalist.

Provides a new perspective on the epistemology of scientific statistical methods.

Abstract

There has long been an impression that reliabilism implies externalism and that frequentist statistics, due to its reliabilist nature, is inherently externalist. I argue, however, that frequentist statistics can plausibly be understood as a form of internalist reliabilism -- internalist in the conventional sense, yet reliabilist in certain unconventional and intriguing ways. Crucially, in developing the thesis that reliabilism does not imply externalism, my aim is not to stretch the meaning of `reliabilism' merely to sever the implication. Instead, it is to gain a deeper understanding of frequentist statistics, which stands as one of the most sustained attempts by scientists to develop an epistemology for their own use.