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144Operationism, probability and quantum mechanicsFoundations of Science 1 (1): 99-118. 1995.This paper investigates the kind of empiricism combined with an operationalist perspective that, in the first decades of our Century, gave rise to a turning point in theoretical physics and in probability theory. While quantum mechanics was taking shape, the classical (Laplacian) interpretation of probability gave way to two divergent perspectives: frequentism and subjectivism. Frequentism gained wide acceptance among theoretical physicists. Subjectivism, on the other hand, was never held to be …Read more
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102Anti-realism in the philosophy of probability: Bruno de finetti's subjectivism (review)Erkenntnis 31 (2-3): 239--261. 1989.Known as an upholder of subjectivism, Bruno de finetti (1906-1985) put forward a totally original philosophy of probability. This can be qualified as a combination of empiricism and pragmatism within an entirely coherent antirealistic perspective. The paper aims at clarifying the central features of such a philosophical position, Which is not only incompatible with any perspective based on an objective notion, But cannot be assimilated to other subjective views of probability either
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100Harold Jeffreys' probabilistic epistemology: Between logicism and subjectivismBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 54 (1): 43-57. 2003.Harold Jeffreys' ideas on the interpretation of probability and epistemology are reviewed. It is argued that with regard to the interpretation of probability, Jeffreys embraces a version of logicism that shares some features of the subjectivism of Ramsey and de Finetti. Jeffreys also developed a probabilistic epistemology, characterized by a pragmatical and constructivist attitude towards notions such as ‘objectivity’, ‘reality’ and ‘causality’. 1 Introductory remarks 2 The interpretation of pro…Read more
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91On Hans Reichenbach’s inductivismSynthese 181 (1). 2011.One of the first to criticize the verifiability theory of meaning embraced by logical empiricists, Reichenbach ties the significance of scientific statements to their predictive character, which offers the condition for their testability. While identifying prediction as the task of scientific knowledge, Reichenbach assigns induction a pivotal role, and regards the theory of knowledge as a theory of prediction based on induction. Reichenbach's inductivism is grounded on the frequency notion of pr…Read more
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90A Philosophical Introduction to ProbabilityCSLI Publications. 2005.Not limited to merely mathematics, probability has a rich and controversial philosophical aspect. _A Philosophical Introduction to Probability_ showcases lesser-known philosophical notions of probability and explores the debate over their interpretations. Galavotti traces the history of probability and its mathematical properties and then discusses various philosophical positions on probability, from the Pierre Simon de Laplace's “classical” interpretation of probability to the logical interpret…Read more
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79The notion of subjective probability in the work of Ramsey and de FinettiTheoria 57 (3): 239-259. 1991.
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59Probabilism and beyondErkenntnis 45 (2-3). 1996.Richard Jeffrey has labelled his philosophy of probability radical probabilism and qualified this position as Bayesian, nonfoundational and anti-rationalist. This paper explores the roots of radical probabilism, to be traced back to the work of Frank P. Ramsey and Bruno de Finetti.
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49Evidence and the Assessment of Causal Relations in the Health SciencesInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 26 (1): 27-45. 2012.This contribution claims that the two fundamental notions of causation at work in the health sciences are manipulative and mechanistic, and investigates what kinds of evidence matter for the assessment of causal relations. This article is a development of our 2007 article, ‘Plurality of Causality’, where we argue for a pluralistic account of causation with an eye to econometrics and a single medical example. The present contribution has a wider focus, and considers the notion of evidence within …Read more
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49Cambridge and Vienna: Frank P. Ramsey and the Vienna Circle (edited book)Springer Verlag. 2004.The Institute Vienna Circle held a conference in Vienna in 2003, Cambridge and Vienna a?
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29Pragmatism and the Birth of Subjective ProbabilityEuropean Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 11 (1). 2019.Pragmatism, taken not just as a philosophical movement but as a way of addressing problems, strongly influenced the debate on the foundations of probability during the first half of the twentieth century. Upholders of different interpretations of probability such as Hans Reichenbach, Ernest Nagel, Rudolf Carnap, Frank Ramsey, and Bruno de Finetti, acknowledged their debt towards pragmatist philosophers, including Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, Clarence Irving Lewis, William Dewey and Gio…Read more
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25The Interpretation of Probability: Still an Open Issue? 1Philosophies 2 (3): 20. 2017.Probability as understood today, namely as a quantitative notion expressible by means of a function ranging in the interval between 0–1, took shape in the mid-17th century, and presents both a mathematical and a philosophical aspect. Of these two sides, the second is by far the most controversial, and fuels a heated debate, still ongoing. After a short historical sketch of the birth and developments of probability, its major interpretations are outlined, by referring to the work of their most pr…Read more
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23Maria Carla Galavotti. Philosophical Introduction to Probability. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language and Information Publications, 2005. Pp. x + 265. ISBN 1-57586-490-8 , 1-57586-489-4 (review)Philosophia Mathematica 15 (1): 129-132. 2007.Galavotti begins her book by stressing the centrality of probability to a whole range of philosophical problems. She writes 1: "Probability invests all branches of philosophical investigation, from epistemology to moral and political philosophy, and impinges upon major controversies, like that between determinism and indeterminism, or between free will and moral obligation, and problems such as: ‘What degree of certainty can human knowledge attain?’ ‘What is the relationship between probability …Read more
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19Stochastic Causality (edited book)CSLI. 2001.A collection of articles originally presented at two conferences, the first at Ventura Hall, Stanford, in April 1998; and the second at the University of Bologna in September 1999.
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18On Hans Reichenbach’s inductivismSynthese 181 (1): 95-111. 2011.One of the first to criticize the verifiability theory of meaning embraced by logical empiricists, Reichenbach ties the significance of scientific statements to their predictive character, which offers the condition for their testability. While identifying prediction as the task of scientific knowledge, Reichenbach assigns induction a pivotal role, and regards the theory of knowledge as a theory of prediction based on induction. Reichenbach’s inductivism is grounded on the frequency notion of pr…Read more
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17Who is Afraid of Subjective Probability?In Alessandro Giordani & Ciro de Florio (eds.), From Arithmetic to Metaphysics: A Path Through Philosophical Logic, De Gruyter. pp. 151-158. 2018.
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17From the Philosophy of Science to the Philosophy of the SciencesJournal of Philosophical Research 40 (Supplement): 45-54. 2015.The philosophy of science took shape as an autonomous discipline in the first decades of the Twentieth Century in connection with the movement known as logical positivism or logical empiricism. According to logical empiricists philosophy of science ought to perform a “rational reconstruction” aimed at exhibiting the logical structure of scientific theories and inferential processes involved in the acquisition of scientific knowledge. While focusing on the syntactical and semantical aspects of sc…Read more
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17European Philosophy of Science: Philosophy of Science in Europe and the Vienna Heritage (edited book)Springer. 2014.Jan WoleĔski Kazimierz Twardowski and the Development of Philosophy of Science in Poland Kazimierz Twardowski studied with Brentano and followed his style of doing philosophy, in particular, the thesis that the method of philosophy is ...
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16Observation and Experiment in the Natural and Social Sciences (edited book)Springer Verlag. 2003.According to a long tradition in philosophy of science, a clear cut distinction can be traced between a context of discovery and a context of justification.
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16Wesley Salmon sobre explicación, probabilidad y racionalidadEnrahonar: Quaderns de Filosofía 37 61-75. 2005.
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16Filosofia della probabilità (review)Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook 5 408-411. 1998.In 1979 Bruno de Finetti gave a course at the “National Institute for Advanced Mathematics” in Rome. Alberto Mura took part in that course and agreed with de Finetti to record it on tape. What appears in this volume is Mura’s transcription of the 19 course sessions, taking the form of a seminar. The result is a very interesting book, containing many insightful remarks, which throw new light on the thought of the most outstanding representative of the subjectivist approach to probability
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15Probabilistic Epistemology: A European TraditionVienna Circle Institute Yearbook 17 77-88. 2014.Probabilistic epistemology holds that probability is an essential ingredient of science and human knowledge at large, and that induction is a necessary constituent of the scientific method. Developed in some detail by a number of authors including Patrick Suppes, Richard Jeffrey and Brian Skyrms, this view has been embraced by so many, as to gradually become predominant. While probabilistic epistemology has been growing, awareness of its origins was somehow left behind. Probabilistic epistemolog…Read more