Probability and objectivity in deterministic and indeterministic situations

Synthese 57 (3):367--86 (1983)
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Abstract

This paper pursues the question, To what extent does the propensity approach to probability contribute to plausible solutions to various anomalies which occur in quantum mechanics? The position I shall defend is that of the three interpretations — the frequency, the subjective, and the propensity — only the third accommodates the possibility, in principle, of providing a realistic interpretation of ontic indeterminism. If these considerations are correct, then they lend support to Popper's contention that the propensity construction tends to remove (at least some of) the mystery from quantum phenomena.

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Citations of this work

What conditional probability could not be.Alan Hájek - 2003 - Synthese 137 (3):273--323.
Interpretations of probability.Alan Hájek - 2007 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Entropy - A Guide for the Perplexed.Roman Frigg & Charlotte Werndl - 2011 - In Claus Beisbart & Stephan Hartmann (eds.), Probabilities in Physics. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press. pp. 115-142.
A Refined Propensity Account for GRW Theory.Lorenzo Lorenzetti - 2021 - Foundations of Physics 51 (2):1-20.

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References found in this work

Individualism and the mental.Tyler Burge - 1979 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 4 (1):73-122.
Causation.David Lewis - 1973 - Journal of Philosophy 70 (17):556-567.
Mathematical truth.Paul Benacerraf - 1973 - Journal of Philosophy 70 (19):661-679.
Humean Supervenience Debugged.David Lewis - 1994 - Mind 103 (412):473--490.

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