 More generally, in the evidential evaluation of scientific hypotheses and theories, prior probabilities represent assessments of non-evidential plausibility weightings among hypotheses. However, because the strengths of such plausibility assessments may vary among members of a scientific community, critics often brand such assessments as merely subjective, and take their role in Bayesian inference to be highly problematic. Bayesian inductivists counter that plausibility assessments play an important, legitimate role in the sciences, especially when evidence cannot suffice to distinguish among some alternative hypotheses. And, they argue, the epithet “merely subjective” is unwarranted. Such plausibility assessments are often backed by extensive arguments that may draw on forceful conceptual considerations.