Shows
MCMP – Philosophy of ScienceOn de Finetti's Instrumentalist Philosophy of ProbabilityJoseph Berkovitz (Toronto) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (20 November, 2014) titled "On de Finetti's Instrumentalist Philosophy of Probability". Abstract: De Finetti is one of the founding fathers of the modern theory of subjective probability, where probabilities are coherent degrees of belief. De Finetti rejected the idea that subjective probabilities are supposed to be guesses, predictions or hypotheses about the corresponding objective probabilities. He argued that probabilities are inherently subjective, and that none of the objective interpretations of probability makes sense. While de Finetti’s theory has been influential in science and in philosophy, it has
encountered various objections. In pa...2014-12-1857 minMCMP – Philosophy of ScienceOn Mathematical Explanation of Physical FactsJoseph Berkovitz (Toronto) gives a talk at the MCMP Colloquium (13 February, 2014) titled "On Mathematical Explanation of Physical Facts". Abstract: Modern physics is highly mathematical, and this may suggest that mathematics is bound to play some role in explaining the physical reality. Yet, there is an ongoing controversy about the prospects of mathematical explanations of physical facts and the nature of such explanations. A popular view has it that mathematics provides a rich and indispensable language for describing the physical reality but could not play any role in explaining physical facts. Even more prevalent is the view that physical facts are...2014-05-0247 min