Hume’s theorem
Howson, Colin
(2013)
Hume’s theorem
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 44 (3).
pp. 339-346.
ISSN 0039-3681
A common criticism of Hume’s famous anti-induction argument is that it is vitiated because it fails to foreclose the possibility of an authentically probabilistic justification of induction. I argue that this claim is false, and that on the contrary, the probability calculus itself, in the form of an elementary consequence that I call Hume’s Theorem, fully endorses Hume’s argument. Various objections, including the often-made claim that Hume is defeated by de Finetti’s exchangeability results, are considered and rejected.
| Item Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Copyright holders | © 2013 Elsevier B.V. |
| Keywords | Hume, induction, probability |
| Departments | Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.shpsa.2013.03.002 |
| Date Deposited | 17 Jul 2013 14:49 |
| URI | https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/51044 |
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