Information and Inference (Synthese Library)

Hintikka, Jaakko [Editor]; Suppes, Patrick [Editor];

ISBN 10: 9027701555 / ISBN 13: 9789027701558

Published by Humanities Press, 1970

About this Item

Humanities Press, 1970; no later printings indicated; [ix], 336, [2 ads] pp. Binding is tight, sturdy, and square; discoloration/mottling to spine and a portion of front board, cloth color faded, gilt titling still legible; light wear to edges of blue cloth boards otherwise; text very good; light foxing to edges of page block; publisher's review copy slip glued to front end page. Dustjacket has some toning, wear and a few small (~1inch or less) tears along edges; jacket arrives wrapped in protective mylar. NOT ex-library. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Seller Inventory # 303831

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Information and Inference (Synthese Library)
• Publisher: Humanities Press
• Publication Date: 1970
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027701555
• ISBN 13: 9789027701558
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good+
• Weight: 22 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy

About this title

Synopsis

In the last 25 years, the concept of information has played a crucial role in communication theory, so much so that the terms information theory and communication theory are sometimes used almost interchangeably. It seems to us, however, that the notion of information is also destined to render valuable services to the student of induction and probability, of learning and reinforcement, of semantic meaning and deductive inference, as~well as of scientific method in general. The present volume is an attempt to illustrate some of these uses of information concepts. In 'On Semantic Information' Hintikka summarizes some of his and his associates' recent work on information and induction, and comments briefly on its philosophical suggestions. Jamison surveys from the sub­ jectivistic point of view some recent results in 'Bayesian Information Usage'. Rosenkrantz analyzes the information obtained by experimen­ tation from the Bayesian and Neyman-Pearson standpoints, and also from the standpoint of entropy and related concepts. The much-debated principle of total evidence prompts Hilpinen to examine the problem of measuring the information yield of observations in his paper 'On the Information Provided by Observations'. Pietarinen addresses himself to the more general task of evaluating the systematizing ('explanatory') power of hypotheses and theories, a task which quickly leads him to information concepts. Domotor develops a qualitative theory of information and entropy. His paper gives what is probably the first axiomatization of a general qualitative theory of information adequate to guarantee a numerical representation of the standard sort.

About the Author

Jaakko Hintikka is the author or co-author of thirty volumes and of some 300 scholarly articles in mathematical and philosophical logic, epistemology, language theory, philosophy of science, history of ideas and history of philosophy, including Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Peirce, The Bloomsbury Group, Husserl and Wittgenstein. He has also been active in international scholarly organizations, most recently as the First Vice-President of FISP, Vice-President of IIP and Co-Chair of the American Organizing Committee of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal Synthese and the Managing Editor of Synthese Library since 1965.