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Accuracy, conditionalization, and probabilism

  • Peter J. Lewis
  • , Don Fallis

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Accuracy-based arguments for conditionalization and probabilism appear to have a significant advantage over their Dutch Book rivals. They rely only on the plausible epistemic norm that one should try to decrease the inaccuracy of one’s beliefs. Furthermore, conditionalization and probabilism apparently follow from a wide range of measures of inaccuracy. However, we argue that there is an under-appreciated diachronic constraint on measures of inaccuracy which limits the measures from which one can prove conditionalization, and none of the remaining measures allow one to prove probabilism. That is, among the measures in the literature, there are some from which one can prove conditionalization, others from which one can prove probabilism, but none from which one can prove both. Hence at present, the accuracy-based approach cannot underwrite both conditionalization and probabilism.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)4017-4033
    Number of pages17
    JournalSynthese
    Volume198
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    StatePublished - May 2021

    Keywords

    • Accuracy
    • Conditionalization
    • Epistemic utility
    • Probabilism
    • Scoring rules

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Philosophy
    • General Social Sciences

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