Beyond the Magical Thinking Behind the Principal Principle

Philosophy 90 (3):479-503 (2015)
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Abstract

David Lewis'sPrincipal Principle states that our credence in a single case follows from the general probability of all such cases. Against this stands the Challenge Argument – to show that the inference is justified. Recent law-to-chance, Bayesian, and propensity theories of probability take up the challenge – but, I argue, fall short. Rather, we should understand propensity via Aristotle's analysis of spontaneity and probabilistic reasoning via theAnti-PPand the practice ofbundling one offs, where forced bad-odds one offsilluminate how extensive a role luck plays in our lives.

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References found in this work

Humean Supervenience Debugged.David Lewis - 1994 - Mind 103 (412):473--490.
Raid! Dissolving the big, bad bug.Jenann Ismael - 2008 - Noûs 42 (2):292–307.
Critical Rationalism: a Restatement and Defence.David Miller - 1997 - Philosophical Quarterly 47 (188):400-404.
Varieties of propensity.Donald Gillies - 2000 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 51 (4):807-835.

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