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  • Book
  • © 2013

Paradoxes in Probability Theory

Authors:

  • Presents an overview of seven paradoxes in probability theory
  • Contains chapters on the Betting Crowd and the Two Envelope probability paradox?
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Philosophy (BRIEFSPHILOSOPH)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Seven Paradoxes

    • William Eckhardt
    Pages 1-4
  3. Anthropic Fallacies

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5
    2. DOOMSDAY!

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 7-10
    3. The Betting Crowd

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 11-13
    4. The Simulation Argument

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 15-17
  4. Dilemmas of Cooperation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
    2. Newcomb’s Problem

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 21-34
    3. The Open Box Game

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 35-38
    4. The Hadron Collider Card Experiment

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 39-44
  5. Mystifying Envelopes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 45-45
    2. The Two-Envelopes Problem

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 47-58
    3. Odds and Ends

      • William Eckhardt
      Pages 59-73
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 75-79

About this book

Paradoxes provide a vehicle for exposing misinterpretations and misapplications of accepted principles. This book discusses seven paradoxes surrounding probability theory.  Some remain the focus of controversy; others have allegedly been solved, however the accepted solutions are demonstrably incorrect. Each paradox is shown to rest on one or more fallacies.  Instead of the esoteric, idiosyncratic, and untested methods that have been brought to bear on these problems, the book invokes uncontroversial probability principles, acceptable both to frequentists and subjectivists. The philosophical disputation inspired by these paradoxes is shown to be misguided and unnecessary; for instance, startling claims concerning human destiny and the nature of reality are directly related to fallacious reasoning in a betting paradox, and a problem analyzed in philosophy journals is resolved by means of a computer program.​

Authors and Affiliations

  • Eckhardt Trading Company, Chicago, USA

    William Eckhardt

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access