Laws, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, and the Dynamics of Belief

Spohn, Wolfgang

Laws, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, and the Dynamics of Belief

Files

Spohn_2002_Laws_Ceteris_Paribus_Conditions.pdf(145.94 KB)

Date

2002

Publication type

Journal article

Published in

Erkenntnis ; 57 (2002), 3. - pp. 373-394

Abstract

The paper develops an account of lawlikeness on the basis of ranking theory (cf. No. 15 and, e.g., No. 39). A universal generalization is a law not because of its content, but only insofar a certain inductive attitude is taken towards its instantiations, an attitude which I describe as being persistent as opposed to being shaky. Thereby, a conception of lawlikeness widely found in the literature receives a precise explication (for the first time, as far as I know). In effect, a law thus turns out to be the ranking analogue of a sequence of independent and identically distributed stochastic variables. This entails that de Finetti's account of the confirmation of statistical hypotheses can be immediately carried over to the case of deterministic laws. The paper also explains that laws explicated in ranking terms are perfectly suited for accommodating ceteris paribus conditions in various senses. The final section offers brief comparative remarks about the other papers in this Erkenntnis issue.

Subject (DDC)

100 Philosophy

Cite This

ISO 690

SPOHN, Wolfgang, 2002. Laws, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, and the Dynamics of Belief. In: Erkenntnis. 57(3), pp. 373-394. Available under: doi: 10.1023/A:1021534428856

BibTex

@article{Spohn2002Ceter-3433,
  year={2002},
  doi={10.1023/A:1021534428856},
  title={Laws, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, and the Dynamics of Belief},
  number={3},
  volume={57},
  journal={Erkenntnis},
  pages={373--394},
  author={Spohn, Wolfgang}
}

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