Propensities and probabilities

Belnap, Nuel D.

doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2006.09.003

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…8 Haybron briefly notes this possibility, but seems to think that is at best an unusual practice (Haybron 2008, p. 34). 9 The notion of a propensity has proved extremely difficult to define precisely (see Belnap 2007 for an overview). For present purposes it should suffice to notice that while not identical to probabilities of outcomes, propensities are closely similar to such probabilities, and are regularly used to explain probabilities and ground predictions about the frequency of events.…”

Section: The Case For the Dispositional Viewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Happiness, Dispositions and the Self

Klausen

2015

J Happiness Stud

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Section: The Case For the Dispositional Viewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Happiness, Dispositions and the Self

Klausen

2015

J Happiness Stud

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“…Christopher Hitchcock suggested that there is a significant task for the propensity theorist to explain why some axiomatisation of probability holds of this new physical property. 47 There are also other attempts to address Humphreys' paradox, such as Albert (2007) and Belnap (2007), which for lack of space we cannot discuss here.…”

Section: The Challengementioning

confidence: 99%

The Propensity Interpretation of Probability: A Re-evaluation

Berkovitz

2015

Erkenn

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Single-case and long-run propensity theories are among the main objective interpretations of probability. There have been various objections to these theories, e.g. that it is difficult to explain why propensities should satisfy the probability axioms and, worse, that propensities are at odds with these axioms, that the explication of propensities is circular and accordingly not informative, and that single-case propensities are metaphysical and accordingly non-scientific. We consider various propensity theories of probability and their prospects in light of these objections. We argue that while propensity theories face challenges, these challenges do not undermine their validity as prospective interpretations of probability in science.

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“…− For an application of BST to the semantics of counterfactuals, see Placek and Müller (2007). − Objective single case probabilities based on BST are developed in Weiner and Belnap (2006), Müller (2005), and Belnap (2007b). A rather preliminary application in quantum information theory is sketched in Müller (2007); for an analysis of Bell's theorem, see Placek (2010).…”

Section: Branching Space-times (Bst)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Branching in the landscape of possibilities

Müller

2012

Synthese

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The metaphor of a branching tree of future possibilities has a number of important philosophical and logical uses. In this paper we trace this metaphor through some of its uses and argue that the metaphor works the same way in physics as in philosophy. We then give an overview of formal systems for branching possibilities, viz., branching time and (briefly) branching space-times. In a next step we describe a number of different notions of possibility, thereby sketching a landscape of possibilities. In the final section of the paper we look at the place of branching-based possibilities in that larger landscape of possibilities. Our main message is that far from being an outlandish metaphysical extravagancy, branching-based possibilities are epistemically as well as metaphysically basic.Keywords Branching time · Branching space-times · Modality · Possibility · ExperimentThe metaphor of branching is useful for describing a certain type of modality: an open future can be pictured as a branching tree of concrete possibilities. In this paper we will look at the place of branching-based possibilities in the larger landscape of possibilities. The main message is that far from being an outlandish metaphysical extravagancy, branching-based possibilities are absolutely basic.The paper is structured as follows: In Sect. 1 we trace the branching metaphor through some of its uses and argue that the uses in philosophy and in the sciences are of a piece. In Sect. 2 we briefly describe two formal frameworks for branching-based possibilities, branching time and branching space-times. Section 3 centers on the notion of a scientific experiment to motivate different types of possibilities, thereby giving

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Propensities and probabilities

Cited by 16 publications

References 18 publications

Happiness, Dispositions and the Self

Happiness, Dispositions and the Self

The Propensity Interpretation of Probability: A Re-evaluation

Branching in the landscape of possibilities

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