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34A probability logical interpretation of fallaciesIn G. Kreuzbauer, N. Gratzl & E. Hiebl (eds.), Rhetorische Wissenschaft: Rede Und Argumentation in Theorie Und Praxis, Lit. pp. 225--244. 2008.This chapter presents a probability logical approach to fallacies. A special interpretation of (subjective) probability is used, which is based on coherence. Coherence provides not only a foundation of probability theory, but also a normative standard of reference for distinguishing fallacious from non-fallacious arguments. The violation of coherence is sufficient for an argument to be fallacious. The inherent uncertainty of everyday life argumentation is captured by attaching degrees of belief …Read more
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31The conditional in mental probability logicIn M. Oaksford & N. Chater (eds.), Cognition and Conditionals: Probability and Logic in Human Thought, Oxford University Press. pp. 153--173. 2010.The present chapter describes a probabilistic framework of human reasoning. It is based on probability logic. While there are several approaches to probability logic, we adopt the coherence based approach.
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30Transitive reasoning with imprecise probabilitiesIn S. S. Destercke & T. Denoeux (eds.), Symbolic and Quantitative Approaches to Reasoning with Uncertainty (ECSQARU 2015), Springer Lnai 9161. pp. 95-105. 2015.We study probabilistically informative (weak) versions of transitivity by using suitable definitions of defaults and negated defaults in the setting of coherence and imprecise probabilities. We represent p-consistent sequences of defaults and/or negated defaults by g-coherent imprecise probability assessments on the respective sequences of conditional events. Finally, we present the coherent probability propagation rules for Weak Transitivity and the validity of selected inference patterns by …Read more
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29Probabilities of conditionals and previsions of iterated conditionalsInternational Journal of Approximate Reasoning 121. 2020.We analyze selected iterated conditionals in the framework of conditional random quantities. We point out that it is instructive to examine Lewis's triviality result, which shows the conditions a conditional must satisfy for its probability to be the conditional probability. In our approach, however, we avoid triviality because the import-export principle is invalid. We then analyze an example of reasoning under partial knowledge where, given a conditional if A then Cas information, the probabil…Read more
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28Severe storm reports of the 17th century: Examples from the UK and FranceIn Niki Pfeifer & Katrin Pfeifer (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Severe Storms (ECSS2013), 3 - 7 June 2013, Helsinki, Finland, . 2013.In this work we survey reports on selected severe storms of the 17th century. Specifically, we investigate a severe storm which was accompanied by a ball lightning phenomenon in Cornwall (UK) in 1640. The “fiery Ball”, which reportedly made a “ter[r]ible sound”, entered the church, broke stones and smashed windows. It made holes in stone walls and injured about 14 people. Furthermore, we report on a 1672 storm in Bedford (UK) that tore down houses, blew down stone walls and uprooted trees. We al…Read more
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28Towards a mental probability logicPsychologica Belgica 45 (1): 71--99. 2005.We propose probability logic as an appropriate standard of reference for evaluating human inferences. Probability logical accounts of nonmonotonic reasoning with system p, and conditional syllogisms (modus ponens, etc.) are explored. Furthermore, we present categorical syllogisms with intermediate quantifiers, like the “most . . . ” quantifier. While most of the paper is theoretical and intended to stimulate psychological studies, we summarize our empirical studies on human nonmonotonic reasonin…Read more
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27Probability propagation in selected Aristotelian syllogismsIn G. Kern-Isberner & Zoran Ognjanović (eds.), ECSQARU 2019: Symbolic and Quantitative Approaches to Reasoning with Uncertainty, Springer. pp. 419-431. 2019.This paper continues our work on a coherence-based probability semantics for Aristotelian syllogisms (Gilio, Pfeifer, and Sanfilippo, 2016; Pfeifer and Sanfilippo, 2018) by studying Figure III under coherence. We interpret the syllogistic sentence types by suitable conditional probability assessments. Since the probabilistic inference of P|S from the premise set {
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27Rational argumentation under uncertaintyIn G. Kreuzbauer, N. Gratzl & E. Hiebl (eds.), Persuasion Und Wissenschaft: Aktuelle Fragestellungen von Rhetorik Und Argumentationstheorie, Lit. pp. 181--191. 2007.Common sense arguments are practically always about incomplete and uncertain information. We distinguish two aspects or kinds of uncertainty. The one is defined as a persons’ uncertainty about the truth of a sentence. The other uncertainty is defined as a persons’ uncertainty of his assessment of the truth of a sentence. In everyday life argumentation we are often faced with both kinds of uncertainty which should be distinguished to avoid misunderstandings among discussants. The paper presents a…Read more
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27Cognition and natural disasters: Stimulating an environmental historical debateIn E. Vaz, A. Melo & C. J. de Melo (eds.), Proceedings of the Second World Congress of Environmental History. Environmental History in the Making, Springer. forthcoming.Modern cognitive and clinical psychology offer insight into how people deal with natural disasters. In my methodological paper, I make a strong case for incorporating experimental findings and theoretical concepts of modern psychology into environmental historical disaster research. I show how psychological factors may influence the production and interpretation of historical sources with respect to perceptions of and responses to disasters. While previous psychological approaches to history mos…Read more
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26Probabilistic inferences from conjoined to iterated conditionalsInternational Journal of Approximate Reasoning 93 103-118. 2018.There is wide support in logic, philosophy, and psychology for the hypothesis that the probability of the indicative conditional of natural language, P(if A then B), is the conditional probability of B given A, P(B|A). We identify a conditional which is such that P(if A then B)=P(B|A) with de Finetti's conditional event, B|A. An objection to making this identification in the past was that it appeared unclear how to form compounds and iterations of conditional events. In this paper, we illustrate…Read more
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24Generalized probabilistic modus ponensIn A. Antonucci, L. Cholvy & O. Papini (eds.), Symbolic and Quantitative Approaches to Reasoning with Uncertainty (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, vol. 10369). pp. 480-490. 2017.Modus ponens (from A and “if A then C” infer C) is one of the most basic inference rules. The probabilistic modus ponens allows for managing uncertainty by transmitting assigned uncertainties from the premises to the conclusion (i.e., from P(A) and P(C|A) infer P(C)). In this paper, we generalize the probabilistic modus ponens by replacing A by the conditional event A|H. The resulting inference rule involves iterated conditionals (formalized by conditional random quantities) and propagates previ…Read more
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23Probabilistic semantics for categorical syllogisms of Figure IIIn D. Ciucci, G. Pasi & B. Vantaggi (eds.), Scalable Uncertainty Management. pp. 196-211. 2018.A coherence-based probability semantics for categorical syllogisms of Figure I, which have transitive structures, has been proposed recently (Gilio, Pfeifer, & Sanfilippo [15]). We extend this work by studying Figure II under coherence. Camestres is an example of a Figure II syllogism: from Every P is M and No S is M infer No S is P. We interpret these sentences by suitable conditional probability assessments. Since the probabilistic inference of ~????|???? from the premise set {????|????, …Read more
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23Abductive, causal, and counterfactual conditionals under incomplete probabilistic knowledgeIn G. Gunzelmann, A. Howes, T. Tenbrink & E. Davelaar (eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Cognitive Science Society Meeting. pp. 2888-2893. 2017.We study abductive, causal, and non-causal conditionals in indicative and counterfactual formulations using probabilistic truth table tasks under incomplete probabilistic knowledge (N = 80). We frame the task as a probability-logical inference problem. The most frequently observed response type across all conditions was a class of conditional event interpretations of conditionals; it was followed by conjunction interpretations. An interesting minority of participants neglected some of the releva…Read more
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23Centering and compound conditionals under coherenceIn M. B. Ferraro, P. Giordani, B. Vantaggi, M. Gagolewski, P. Grzegorzewski, O. Hryniewicz & María Ángeles Gil (eds.), Soft Methods for Data Science, . pp. 253-260. 2017.There is wide support in logic, philosophy, and psychology for the hypothesis that the probability of the indicative conditional of natural language, P(if A then B), is the conditional probability of B given A, P(B|A). We identify a conditional which is such that P(if A then B)=P(B|A) with de Finetti’s conditional event, B | A. An objection to making this identification in the past was that it appeared unclear how to form compounds and iterations of conditional events. In this paper, we illustra…Read more
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21Connexive Logic, Probabilistic Default Reasoning, and Compound ConditionalsStudia Logica 112 (1): 167-206. 2023.We present two approaches to investigate the validity of connexive principles and related formulas and properties within coherence-based probability logic. Connexive logic emerged from the intuition that conditionals of the form if not-A, thenA, should not hold, since the conditional’s antecedent not-A contradicts its consequent A. Our approaches cover this intuition by observing that the only coherent probability assessment on the conditional event $${A| \overline{A}}$$ A | A ¯ is $${p(A| \over…Read more
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21Square of opposition under coherenceIn M. B. Ferraro, P. Giordani, B. Vantaggi, M. Gagolewski, P. Grzegorzewski, O. Hryniewicz & María Ángeles Gil (eds.), Soft Methods for Data Science, . pp. 407-414. 2017.Various semantics for studying the square of opposition have been proposed recently. So far, only [14] studied a probabilistic version of the square where the sentences were interpreted by (negated) defaults. We extend this work by interpreting sentences by imprecise (set-valued) probability assessments on a sequence of conditional events. We introduce the acceptability of a sentence within coherence-based probability theory. We analyze the relations of the square in terms of acceptability and s…Read more
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20Interpreting connexive principles in coherence-based probability logic.In J. Vejnarová & J. Wilson (eds.), Symbolic and Quantitative Approaches to Reasoning with Uncertainty (ECSQARU 2021, LNAI 12897), . pp. 672-687. 2021.We present probabilistic approaches to check the validity of selected connexive principles within the setting of coherence. Connexive logics emerged from the intuition that conditionals of the form If ∼A, then A, should not hold, since the conditional’s antecedent ∼A contradicts its consequent A. Our approach covers this intuition by observing that for an event A the only coherent probability assessment on the conditional event A|~A is p(A|~A)=0 . Moreover, connexive logics aim to capt…Read more
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19Nonmonotonic conditionals (A |∼ B) are formalizations of common sense expressions of the form “if A, normally B”. The nonmonotonic conditional is interpreted by a “high” coherent conditional probability, P(B|A) > .5. Two important properties are closely related to the nonmonotonic conditional: First, A |∼ B allows for exceptions. Second, the rules of the nonmonotonic system p guiding A |∼ B allow for withdrawing conclusions in the light of new premises. This study reports a series of three exper…Read more
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19Counterfactuals, indicative conditionals, and negation under uncertainty: Are there cross-cultural differences?In G. Gunzelmann, A. Howes, T. Tenbrink & E. Davelaar (eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Cognitive Science Society Meeting. pp. 2882-2887. 2017.In this paper we study selected argument forms involving counterfactuals and indicative conditionals under uncertainty. We selected argument forms to explore whether people with an Eastern cultural background reason differently about conditionals compared to Westerners, because of the differences in the location of negations. In a 2x2 between-participants design, 63 Japanese university students were allocated to four groups, crossing indicative conditionals and counterfactuals, and each presente…Read more
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18On argument strengthIn Frank Zenker (ed.), Bayesian argumentation. The practical side of probability. pp. 185-193. 2013.Everyday life reasoning and argumentation is defeasible and uncertain. I present a probability logic framework to rationally reconstruct everyday life reasoning and argumentation. Coherence in the sense of de Finetti is used as the basic rationality norm. I discuss two basic classes of approaches to construct measures of argument strength. The first class imposes a probabilistic relation between the premises and the conclusion. The second class imposes a deductive relation. I argue for the secon…Read more
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17What society can and cannot learn from coherence: theoretical and practical considerationsIn Hiroshi Yama & Véronique Salvano-Pardieu (eds.), Adapting Human Thinking and Moral Reasoning in Contemporary Society, Igi Global, Information Science Reference. pp. 176-198. 2019.Society is facing uncertainty on a multitude of domains and levels: usually, reasoning and decisions about political, economic, or health issues must be made under uncertainty. Among various approaches to probability, this chapter presents the coherence approach to probability as a method for uncertainty management. The authors explain the role of uncertainty in the context of important societal issues like legal reasoning and vaccination hesitancy. Finally, the chapter presents selected psychol…Read more
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15Probabilistic entailment and iterated conditionalsIn S. Elqayam, Igor Douven, J. St B. T. Evans & N. Cruz (eds.), Logic and uncertainty in the human mind: a tribute to David E. Over, Routledge. pp. 71-101. 2020.In this paper we exploit the notions of conjoined and iterated conditionals, which are defined in the setting of coherence by means of suitable conditional random quantities with values in the interval [0,1]. We examine the iterated conditional (B|K)|(A|H), by showing that A|H p-entails B|K if and only if (B|K)|(A|H) = 1. Then, we show that a p-consistent family F={E1|H1, E2|H2} p-entails a conditional event E3|H3 if and only if E3|H3= 1, or (E3|H3)|QC(S) = 1 for some nonempty subset S of F, whe…Read more
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14Modeling the Ellsberg paradox by argument strengthIn G. Gunzelmann, A. Howes, T. Tenbrink & E. Davelaar (eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Cognitive Science Society Meeting, . pp. 925-930. 2017.We present a formal measure of argument strength, which combines the ideas that conclusions of strong arguments are (i) highly probable and (ii) their uncertainty is relatively precise. Likewise, arguments are weak when their conclusion probability is low or when it is highly imprecise. We show how the proposed measure provides a new model of the Ellsberg paradox. Moreover, we further substantiate the psychological plausibility of our approach by an experiment (N = 60). The data show that the pr…Read more
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14Probabilistic interpretations of argumentative attacks: Logical and experimental resultsArgument and Computation 14 (1): 75-107. 2023.We present an interdisciplinary approach to argumentation combining logical, probabilistic, and psychological perspectives. We investigate logical attack principles which relate attacks among claims with logical form. For example, we consider the principle that an argument that attacks another argument claiming A triggers the existence of an attack on an argument featuring the stronger claim A ∧ B. We formulate a number of such principles pertaining to conjunctive, disjunctive, negated, and impl…Read more
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13Probabilistic squares and hexagons of opposition under coherenceInternational Journal of Approximate Reasoning 88 282-294. 2017.Various semantics for studying the square of opposition and the hexagon of opposition have been proposed recently. We interpret sentences by imprecise (set-valued) probability assessments on a finite sequence of conditional events. We introduce the acceptability of a sentence within coherence-based probability theory. We analyze the relations of the square and of the hexagon in terms of acceptability. Then, we show how to construct probabilistic versions of the square and of the hexagon of oppos…Read more
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11Probability propagation rules for Aristotelian syllogismsAnnals of Pure and Applied Logic. forthcoming.
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6Rezension: Was wir Karl R. Popper und seiner PhilosophieverdankenKriterion - Journal of Philosophy 1 (17): 23-27. 2003.
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5Editor's note: Special issue on Combining Probability and Logic to Solve Philosophical ProblemsJournal of Applied Logic 12 (3): 233-234. 2014.