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- Typicality (2)
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Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Philosophy of Science
Probabilistic Reasoning In Cosmology, Yann Benétreau-Dupin
Probabilistic Reasoning In Cosmology, Yann Benétreau-Dupin
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Cosmology raises novel philosophical questions regarding the use of probabilities in inference. This work aims at identifying and assessing lines of arguments and problematic principles in probabilistic reasoning in cosmology.
The first, second, and third papers deal with the intersection of two distinct problems: accounting for selection effects, and representing ignorance or indifference in probabilistic inferences. These two problems meet in the cosmology literature when anthropic considerations are used to predict cosmological parameters by conditionalizing the distribution of, e.g., the cosmological constant on the number of observers it allows for. However, uniform probability distributions usually appealed to in such arguments …
On Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics, Joshua M. Luczak
On Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics, Joshua M. Luczak
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This thesis makes the issue of reconciling the existence of thermodynamically irreversible processes with underlying reversible dynamics clear, so as to help explain what philosophers mean when they say that an aim of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics is to underpin aspects of thermodynamics.
Many of the leading attempts to reconcile the existence of thermodynamically irreversible processes with underlying reversible dynamics proceed by way of discussions that attempt to underpin the following qualitative facts: (i) that isolated macroscopic systems that begin away from equilibrium spontaneously approach equilibrium, and (ii) that they remain in equilibrium for incredibly long periods of time. These attempts …
Philipp Frank: Philosophy Of Science, Pragmatism, And Social Engagement, Amy N. Wuest
Philipp Frank: Philosophy Of Science, Pragmatism, And Social Engagement, Amy N. Wuest
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Philipp Frank––physicist, philosopher, and early member of the Vienna Circle––is often neglected in retrospective accounts of twentieth century philosophy of science, despite renewed interest in the work of the Vienna Circle. In this thesis, I argue that this neglect is unwarranted. Appealing to a variety of philosophical and historical sources, I trace the development of Frank’s philosophical thought and, in so doing highlight the roles played by history, sociology, values, and pragmatism in his philosophy of science. Turning to contemporary literature, I then argue that Frank’s work should be understood as an early instance of what is now called “socially …