The Maxim of Probabilism, with special regard to Reichenbach

Synthese 199 (3-4):8857-8874 (2021)
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Abstract

It is shown that by realizing the isomorphism features of the frequency and geometric interpretations of probability, Reichenbach comes very close to the idea of identifying mathematical probability theory with measure theory in his 1949 work on foundations of probability. Some general features of Reichenbach’s axiomatization of probability theory are pointed out as likely obstacles that prevented him making this conceptual move. The role of isomorphisms of Kolmogorovian probability measure spaces is specified in what we call the “Maxim of Probabilism”, which states that a necessary condition for a concept to be probabilistic is its invariance with respect to measure-theoretic isomorphisms. The functioning of the Maxim of Probabilism is illustrated by the example of conditioning via conditional expectations.

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Author Profiles

Miklós Rédei
London School of Economics
Zalan Gyenis
Jagiellonian University

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References found in this work

The direction of time.Hans Reichenbach - 1956 - Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. Edited by Maria Reichenbach.
The theory of probability.Hans Reichenbach - 1949 - Berkeley,: University of California Press.
Probability Theory. The Logic of Science.Edwin T. Jaynes - 2002 - Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Edited by G. Larry Bretthorst.
The Direction of Time.Hans Reichenbach - 1956 - Philosophy 34 (128):65-66.
What conditional probability could not be.Alan Hájek - 2003 - Synthese 137 (3):273--323.

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