Statistical Methods and the Meaning of Probabilities. A Philosopher Looks at Statistics

Beisbart, Claus (12 April 2013). Statistical Methods and the Meaning of Probabilities. A Philosopher Looks at Statistics (Unpublished). In: Colloquia on Probability and Statistics. Bern. 12.4.2013.

The talk starts out with a short introduction to the philosophy of probability. I highlight the need to interpret probabilities in the sciences and motivate objectivist accounts of probabilities. Very roughly, according to such accounts, ascriptions of probabilities have truth-conditions that are independent of personal interests and needs. But objectivist accounts are pointless if they do not provide an objectivist epistemology, i.e., if they do not determine well-defined methods to support or falsify claims about probabilities. In the rest of the talk I examine recent philosophical proposals for an objectivist methodology. Most of them take up ideas well-known from statistics. I nevertheless find some proposals incompatible with objectivist aspirations.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Speech)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Philosophy

UniBE Contributor:

Beisbart, Claus

Subjects:

100 Philosophy
100 Philosophy > 120 Epistemology
500 Science > 510 Mathematics

Language:

English

Submitter:

Claus Beisbart

Date Deposited:

22 Apr 2014 14:32

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:32

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/49209

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