The Matter of Chance
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Authors
Mellor, David Hugh
Publication Date
1971ISBN
0521615984
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Language
English
Type
Book
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Mellor, D. H. (1971). The Matter of Chance. [Book]. http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/183661
Description
This PDF file is made available by permission of Cambridge University Press. To order a hard copy, go to http://www.cambridge.org/0521615984
Abstract
The book develops an account of objective chances as properties of events (e.g. of coin tosses) defined by the degrees of belief (e.g. that the coin will land heads) which embody knowledge of those chances. The chances manifest propensities: dispositional properties of objects (e.g. a coin's bias). The account is applied to theories of radioactive decay and of how human death risk increases with age, and is used to show how knowledge of propensities underlies apparently a priori derivations of classical chance distributions. Finally it shows how propensities entail indeterminism and are consistent with a Humean view of laws of nature.
Keywords
Philosophy, Metaphysics, Probability, Chance
Identifiers
This record's URL: http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/183661
Rights
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/183651
Licence URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/183651