Cosmic Conundrums, Common Origins, and Omnivorous Constraints

Journal article

The paper revisits Janssen’s proposal of Common Origin Inferences (COIs), a powerful and scientifically fruitful inference pattern that (causally) traces striking coincidences back to a common origin. According to Janssen, COIs are a decisive engine for rational theory change across disciplines and eras. After a careful reconstruction of Janssen’s central tenets, we critically assess them, highlighting three key shortcomings: its strong realist and ontological commitments, its restriction to (or strong penchant for) causal/ontic explanations, and its intended employment for conferring evidential-epistemic status. To remedy these shortcomings, we moot a natural generalisation and amelioration of Janssen’s original conception—COI*s: Constraint-Omnivorous Inferences. COI*s warrant inference to pursuit-worthy hypotheses: it is rational to further study, work on, elaborate/refine or test hypotheses that account for multiple constraints in one fell swoop. As a demonstration of the utility of COI* reasoning, we finally show how it sheds light on, and dovetails, the three most significant breakthroughs in recent cosmology: the Dark Matter hypothesis, the Dark Energy postulate, and the theory of cosmic inflation.

Authors: Duerr, PM; Wolf, WJ

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: MDPI
• Journal: Philosophies
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 101-101
• Article number: 101
• Publication date: 2025-09-12
• Acceptance date: 2025-08-21
• DOI: 10.3390/philosophies10050101
• EISSN: 2409-9287
• ISSN: 2409-9287
• Language: English
• Keywords: pursuit; heuristic reasoning; theory choice; IBE; cosmology; Common Origins