Probability and Typicality in Deterministic Physics

Erkenntnis 80 (3):575-586 (2015)
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Abstract

In this paper we analyze the relation between the notion of typicality and the notion of probability and the related question of how the choice of measure in deterministic theories in physics may be justified. Recently it has been argued that although the notion of typicality is not a probabilistic notion, it plays a crucial role in underwriting probabilistic statements in classical statistical mechanics and in Bohm’s theory. We argue that even in theories with deterministic dynamics, like classical statistical mechanics and Bohm’s theory, the notion of probability can be understood as fundamentally objective, and that it is the notion of probability rather than typicality that may have an explanatory value

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Author Profiles

Orly Shenker
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Meir Hemmo
University of Haifa

Citations of this work

Flat Physicalism.Meir Hemmo & Orly Shenker - 2021 - Theoria 88 (4):743-764.
Calling for explanation: the case of the thermodynamic past state.Dan Baras & Orly Shenker - 2020 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 10 (3):1-20.
Two Kinds of High-Level Probability.Meir Hemmo & Orly Shenker - 2019 - The Monist 102 (4):458-477.

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References found in this work

Time and chance.David Z. Albert - 2000 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Time and Chance.David Z. Albert - 2000 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Time and Chance.S. French - 2005 - Mind 114 (453):113-116.
The Road to Maxwell’s Demon.Orly Shenker & Meir Hemmo - 2012 - Cambridge University Press.

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