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Probability and Determinism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Jan Von Plato
Jan Von Plato*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy University of Helsinki
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Abstract

This paper discusses different interpretations of probability in relation to determinism. It is argued that both objective and subjective views on probability can be compatible with deterministic as well as indeterministic situations. The possibility of a conceptual independence between probability and determinism is argued to hold on a general level. The subsequent philosophical analysis of recent advances in classical statistical mechanics (ergodic theory) is of independent interest, but also adds weight to the claim that it is possible to justify an objective interpretation of probabilities in a theory having as a basis the paradigmatically deterministic theory of classical mechanics.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , March 1982 , pp. 51 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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References

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