A Philosophical Guide to Chance

A Philosophical Guide to Chance PDF Author: Toby Handfield
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110701378X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
An introduction to the philosophy of chance which challenges realist accounts of chance.

A Philosophical Guide to Chance

A Philosophical Guide to Chance PDF Author: Toby Handfield
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110701378X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book

Book Description
An introduction to the philosophy of chance which challenges realist accounts of chance.

A Philosophical Guide to Chance

A Philosophical Guide to Chance PDF Author: Toby Handfield
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781139341776
Category : Chance
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
"It is a commonplace that scientific inquiry makes extensive use of probabilities, many of which seem to be objective chances, describing features of reality that are independent of our minds. Such chances appear to have a number of paradoxical or puzzling features: they appear to be mind-independent facts, but they are intimately connected with rational psychology; they display a temporal asymmetry, but they are supposed to be grounded in physical laws that are time-symmetric; and chances are used to explain and predict frequencies of events, although they cannot be reduced to those frequencies. This book offers an accessible and non-technical introduction to these and other puzzles. Toby Handfield engages with traditional metaphysics and philosophy of science, drawing upon recent work in the foundations of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics to provide a novel account of objective probability that is empirically informed without requiring specialist scientific knowledge"--

Probability is the Very Guide of Life

Probability is the Very Guide of Life PDF Author: Henry Ely Kyburg
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 9780812695137
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
This collection of philosophical essays looks at various technical problems in the use of probability theory for guidance in practical decisions. This text is intended for those who already have a basic grounding in philosophy, logic and probabilty theory.

A Philosophical Guide to Chance

A Philosophical Guide to Chance PDF Author: Toby Handfield
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107080010
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
It is a commonplace that scientific inquiry makes extensive use of probabilities, many of which seem to be objective chances, describing features of reality that are independent of our minds. Such chances appear to have a number of paradoxical or puzzling features: they appear to be mind-independent facts, but they are intimately connected with rational psychology; they display a temporal asymmetry, but they are supposed to be grounded in physical laws that are time-symmetric; and chances are used to explain and predict frequencies of events, although they cannot be reduced to those frequencies. This book offers an accessible and non-technical introduction to these and other puzzles. Toby Handfield engages with traditional metaphysics and philosophy of science, drawing upon recent work in the foundations of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics to provide a novel account of objective probability that is empirically informed without requiring specialist scientific knowledge.

Chance in the World

Chance in the World PDF Author: Carl Hoefer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190907436
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Probability has fascinated philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians for hundreds of years. Although the mathematics of probability is, for most applications, clear and uncontroversial, the interpretation of probability statements continues to be fraught with controversy and confusion. What does it mean to say that the probability of some event X occurring is 31%? In the 20th century a consensus emerged that there are at least two legitimate kinds of probability, and correspondingly at least two kinds of possible answers to this question of meaning. Subjective probability, also called 'credence' or 'degree of belief' is a numerical measure of the confidence of some person or some ideal rational agent. Objective probability, or chance, is a fact about how things are in the world. It is this second type of probability with which Carl Hoefer is concerned in this volume, specifically how we can understand the meaning of statements about objective probability. He aims to settle the question of what objective chances are, once and for all, with an account that can meet the demands of philosophers and scientists alike. For Hoefer, chances are constituted by patterns that can be discerned in the events that happen in our world. These patterns are ideally appropriate guides to what credences limited rational agents, such as ourselves, should have in situations of imperfect knowledge. By showing this, Hoefer bridges the gap between subjective probability and chance. In a field where few scholars have given adequate treatment to interpreting statements of chance, Hoefer develops a philosophically rich theory which draws on the disciplines of metaphysics, ontology, and philosophy of science.

Midlife

Midlife PDF Author: Kieran Setiya
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400888476
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Philosophical wisdom and practical advice for overcoming the problems of middle age How can you reconcile yourself with the lives you will never lead, with possibilities foreclosed, and with nostalgia for lost youth? How can you accept the failings of the past, the sense of futility in the tasks that consume the present, and the prospect of death that blights the future? In this self-help book with a difference, Kieran Setiya confronts the inevitable challenges of adulthood and middle age, showing how philosophy can help you thrive. You will learn why missing out might be a good thing, how options are overrated, and when you should be glad you made a mistake. You will be introduced to philosophical consolations for mortality. And you will learn what it would mean to live in the present, how it could solve your midlife crisis, and why meditation helps. Ranging from Aristotle, Schopenhauer, and John Stuart Mill to Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as drawing on Setiya’s own experience, Midlife combines imaginative ideas, surprising insights, and practical advice. Writing with wisdom and wit, Setiya makes a wry but passionate case for philosophy as a guide to life.

Ten Great Ideas about Chance

Ten Great Ideas about Chance PDF Author: Persi Diaconis
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691196397
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, gamblers and mathematicians transformed the idea of chance from a mystery into the discipline of probability, setting the stage for a series of breakthroughs that enabled or transformed innumerable fields, from gambling, mathematics, statistics, economics, and finance to physics and computer science. This book tells the story of ten great ideas about chance and the thinkers who developed them, tracing the philosophical implications of these ideas as well as their mathematical impact.

The Taming of Chance

The Taming of Chance PDF Author: Ian Hacking
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521388849
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This book combines detailed scientific historical research with characteristic philosophic breadth and verve.

Chance and Temporal Asymmetry

Chance and Temporal Asymmetry PDF Author: Alastair Wilson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191654485
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Chance and Temporal Asymmetry presents a collection of cutting-edge research papers in the metaphysics of science, tackling the perplexing philosophical problems raised by recent progress in the physics and metaphysics of chance and time. How do the probabilities found in fundamental physics and the probabilities of the special sciences relate to one another? Can a constraint on the initial conditions of the universe underwrite the second law of thermodynamics? How does contemporary quantum theory reframe debates over the nature of chance? What grounds do we have for believing in a fundamental direction to time? And how do all these questions connect up? The aim of the volume is both to survey and summarize recent debates about chance and temporal asymmetry and to push them forward. Familiar approaches are subjected to searching new critiques, and bold new proposals are made concerning (inter alia) the semantics of chance-attributions, the justification of the Principal Principle connecting chance and degree of belief, and the source of the temporal asymmetry of human experience. The contributors include world-leading figures in the field, all presenting new work rather than rehashing old ideas, as well as a number of promising junior scholars. A wide-ranging introduction connects the different chapters together, and provides essential background to the debates they take up. Technicality is kept to a minimum and philosophical and conceptual foundations take centre stage. Chance and Temporal Asymmetry sets the agenda for future work on time and chance, which are central to the emerging sub-field of metaphysics of science. It will be indispensable to graduate students and to specialists in metaphysics and philosophy of science.

Philosophy of Probability

Philosophy of Probability PDF Author: Antony Eagle
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415483872
Category : Olasılık-Felsefe
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Alan Hajek, The Australian National University, Australia.