Ebook: Probability in the Sciences

Probability has become one of the most characteristic con­ cepts of modern culture, and a 'probabilistic way of thinking' may be said to have penetrated almost every sector of our in­ tellectual life. However it would be difficult to determine an explicit list of 'positive' features, to be proposed as identifica­ tion marks of this way of thinking. One would rather say that it is characterized by certain 'negative' features, i. e. by certain at­ titudes which appear to be the negation of well established tra­ ditional assumptions, conceptual frameworks, world outlooks and the like. It is because of this opposition to tradition that the probabilistic approach is perceived as expressing a 'modern' in­ tellectual style. As an example one could mention the widespread diffidence in philosophy with respect to self -contained systems claiming to express apodictic truths, instead of which much weaker pretensions are preferred, that express 'probable' interpretations of reality, of history, of man (the hermeneutic trend). An ana­ logous example is represented by the interest devoted to the study of different patterns of 'argumentation', dealing wiht reasonings which rely not so much on the truth of the premisses and stringent formal logic links, but on a display of contextual conditions (depending on the audience, and on accepted stan­ dards, judgements, and values), which render the premisses and the conclusions more 'probable' (the new rhetoric).

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-x
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Probability: A Composite Concept....Pages 3-26
Two Faces and Three Masks of Probability....Pages 27-49
Ambiguous Uses of Probability....Pages 51-66
Some Logical Distinctions Exploited by Differing Analyses of Pascalian Probability....Pages 67-76
Probability and Confirmation....Pages 77-87
Chance, Cause, and the State-Space Approach....Pages 89-101
World as System Self-Synthesized by Quantum Networking....Pages 103-129
A Brief Note on the Relationship between Probability, Selective Strategies and Possible Models....Pages 131-134
Front Matter....Pages 135-135
Critical Replications for Statistical Design....Pages 137-147
The Contribution of A.N. Kolmogorov to the Notion of Entropy....Pages 149-159
The Probability of Singular Events....Pages 161-164
Probability, Randomness and Information....Pages 165-172
Front Matter....Pages 173-173
Probability, Organization and Evolution in Biochemistry....Pages 175-182
Relativity and Probability, Classical and Quantal....Pages 183-202
Probabilistic Ontology and Space-Time: Updating an Historical Debate....Pages 203-215
Probability and the Mystery of Quantum Mechanics....Pages 217-235
Probability and Determinism in Quantum Theory....Pages 237-259
Back Matter....Pages 261-269

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-x
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Probability: A Composite Concept....Pages 3-26
Two Faces and Three Masks of Probability....Pages 27-49
Ambiguous Uses of Probability....Pages 51-66
Some Logical Distinctions Exploited by Differing Analyses of Pascalian Probability....Pages 67-76
Probability and Confirmation....Pages 77-87
Chance, Cause, and the State-Space Approach....Pages 89-101
World as System Self-Synthesized by Quantum Networking....Pages 103-129
A Brief Note on the Relationship between Probability, Selective Strategies and Possible Models....Pages 131-134
Front Matter....Pages 135-135
Critical Replications for Statistical Design....Pages 137-147
The Contribution of A.N. Kolmogorov to the Notion of Entropy....Pages 149-159
The Probability of Singular Events....Pages 161-164
Probability, Randomness and Information....Pages 165-172
Front Matter....Pages 173-173
Probability, Organization and Evolution in Biochemistry....Pages 175-182
Relativity and Probability, Classical and Quantal....Pages 183-202
Probabilistic Ontology and Space-Time: Updating an Historical Debate....Pages 203-215
Probability and the Mystery of Quantum Mechanics....Pages 217-235
Probability and Determinism in Quantum Theory....Pages 237-259
Back Matter....Pages 261-269
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