| Philosophical Lectures on Probability 2008 Edition Contributor(s): de Finetti, Bruno (Author), Mura, Alberto (Editor), Galavotti, Maria Carla (Introduction by) |
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ISBN: 1402082010 ISBN-13: 9781402082016 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $208.99 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2008 Annotation: DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE OF WORK The book contains the transcription of a course on the foundations of probability given by the Italian mathematician Bruno de Finetti in 1979 at the "National Institute of Advanced Mathematics" in Rome. Bruno de Finetti (1906-1985) is worldwide known as the founder (together with F P. Ramsey) of the modern personal probability. His fundamental idea of coherence, along with his Dutch Book argument, continues to play a central role in the debates about the foundations of probability and decision theory. Moreover, his notion of exchangeability and the related Representation Theorem are at the heart of the modern Bayesianism in Statistics and epistemology. Unlike the hard-to-read two-volumes major work "Theory of Probability" (1970) (translated in English and published in 1974 by Wiley), this book is accessible to a wide audience, being conducted at a very elementary mathematical level, with no sacrifice of conceptual rigour. So this book provides a fresh and first-hand introduction to De Finetti's personalistic standpoint. Although primarily meant as an introduction, the book should interest also scientists and philosophers well acquainted with De Finetti's views. As a matter of fact, the book contains the last reflections by De Finetti that include important conceptual novelties and new answers to ommon objections. The editor added a new introductory essay (that replaces the paper present in the original Italian edition), a rich apparatus of explicative notes and an updated bibliography. A further new preface by Maria Carla Galavotti is added to this English edition. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Science | Philosophy & Social Aspects - Philosophy | Epistemology - Mathematics | History & Philosophy |
| Dewey: 121.63 |
| LCCN: 2007943065 |
| Series: Synthese Library (Hardcover) |
| Physical Information: 0.63" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.17 lbs) 216 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Bruno de Finetti (1906-1985) is the founder of the subjective interpretation of probability, together with the British philosopher Frank Plumpton Ramsey. His related notion of "exchangeability" revolutionized the statistical methodology. This book (based on a course held in 1979) explains in a language accessible also to non-mathematicians the fundamental tenets and implications of subjectivism, according to which the probability of any well specified fact F refers to the degree of belief actually held by someone, on the ground of her whole knowledge, on the truth of the assertion that F obtains. |