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The Best Humean System for Statistical Mechanics

Frigg, Roman and Hoefer, Carl (2013) The Best Humean System for Statistical Mechanics. Erkenntnis.

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Abstract

Classical statistical mechanics posits probabilities for various events to occur, and these probabilities seem to be objective chances. This does not seem to sit well with the fact that the theory’s time evolution is deterministic. We argue that the tension between the two is only apparent. We present a theory of Humean objective chance and show that chances thus understood are compatible with underlying determinism and provide an interpretation of the probabilities we find in Boltzmannian statistical mechanics.


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Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Frigg, Romanr.p.frigg@lse.ac.uk
Hoefer, Carlcarl.hoefer@uwo.ca
Keywords: Boltzmannian statistical mechanics, determinism, objective chances
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
Depositing User: Roman Frigg
Date Deposited: 16 Dec 2014 19:29
Last Modified: 22 Dec 2014 16:32
Item ID: 11204
Journal or Publication Title: Erkenntnis
Official URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10670-...
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1007/s10670-013-9541-5
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics
Date: 16 October 2013
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11204

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