Eells Ellery 1953 2006 Eells Ellery (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. 1st Edition. 368 pp. Original laminated boards. Near Fine. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 284. Science aims at the discovery of general principles of special kinds that are applicable for the explanation and prediction of the phenomena of the world in the form of theories and laws. When the phenomena themselves happen to be general, the principles involved assume the form of theories; and when they are particular, they assume the form of general laws. Theories themselves are sets of laws and definitions that apply to a common domain, which makes laws indispensable to science. Understanding science thus depends upon understanding the nature of theories and laws, the logical structure of explanations and predictions based upon them, and the principles of inference and decision that apply to theories and laws. Laws and theories can differ in their form as well as in their content. The laws of quantum mechanics are indeterministic (or probabilistic), for example, while those of classical mechanics are deterministic (or universal) instead. The history of science reflects an increasing role for probabilities as properties of the world but also as measures of evidential support and as degrees of subjective belief. Our purpose is to clarify and illuminate the place of probability in science. Table of contents (14 chapters) ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS OF PROBABILITY Probabilistic Causality and Causal Generalizations Ellery Eells Pages 3-44 Probabilistic Causality and Causal Generalizations Daniel M. Hausman Pages 47-63 The Possibility of Infinitesimal Chances Martin Barrett Pages 65-79 Probabilistic Metaphysics James H. Fetzer Pages 81-98 THE OBJECTIVITY OF MACRO-PROBABILITIES Chance and Necessity Wolfgang Spohn Pages 101-131 Evolutionary Theory and the Reality of Macro-Probabilities Elliott Sober Pages 133-161 Is Evolution An Optimizing Process? James H. Fetzer Pages 163-177 PROBABILITIES AS EXPLANATORY PROPERTIES Propensity Trajectories, Preemption, and the Identity of Events Ellery Eells Pages 181-199 Miraculous Consilience of Quantum Mechanics Malcolm R. Forster Pages 201-228 Probability and Objectivity in Deterministic and Indeterministic Situations James H. Fetzer Pages 229-244 PROBABILITIES IN INFERENCE AND DECISION How Bayesian Confirmation Theory Handles the Paradox of the Ravens Branden Fitelson, James Hawthorne Pages 247-275 Learning to Network Brian Skyrms, Robin Pemantle Pages 277-287 Probabilities in Decision Rules Paul Weirich Pages 289-319 Propensities and Frequencies James H. Fetzer Pages 323-351.…