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Interpretations of Probability (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

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But what do these statements mean? This may be understood as a metaphysical question about what kinds of things are probabilities, or more generally as a question about what makes probability statements true or false. At a first pass, various interpretations of probability answer this question, one way or another. However, there is also a stricter usage: an ‘interpretation’ of a formal theory provides meanings for its primitive symbols or terms, with an eye to turning its axioms and theorems into true statements about some subject. In the case of probability, Kolmogorov’s axiomatization (which we will see shortly) is the usual formal theory, and the so-called ‘interpretations of probability’ usually interpret it. That axiomatization introduces a function ‘ P 𝑃 ’ that has certain formal properties. We may then ask ‘What is P 𝑃 ?’. Several of the views that we will discuss also answer this question, one way or another. Our topic is complicated by the fact that there are various altern

--> Interpretations of Probability (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Menu Browse Table of Contents What's New Random Entry Chronological Archives About Editorial Information About the SEP Editorial Board How to Cite the SEP Special Characters Advanced Tools Contact Support SEP Support the SEP PDFs for SEP Friends Make a Donation SEPIA for Libraries Entry Navigation Entry Contents Bibliography Academic Tools Friends PDF Preview Author and Citation Info Back to Top Interpretations of Probability First published Mon Oct 21, 2002; substantive revision Thu No

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