What Is Formal Philosophy?

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-241
Author(s):  
Vitaly V. Dolgorukov ◽  
Vera A. Shumilina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Decision Theory ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Explanatory Models ◽  
Impossibility Theorem ◽  
Philosophical Logic ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Open Problems ◽  
Formal Philosophy

The paper focuses on the review of current literature on formal philosophy. Special attention is paid to the review of the book «Introduction to Formal Philosophy» [Hansson, Hendricks, 2018]. The book is a consistent introduction to the problems of formal philosophy, a research tradition that relies on the precise mathematical tools in order to study traditional philosophical problems. The methods of formal philosophy are successfully applied not only to the problems of ontology, epistemology and philosophy of language but also relevant for the problems of ethics, axiology and social philosophy. The book demonstrates that it is not correct to identify formal philosophy with another area of study – philosophical logic, since formal philosophy uses not only logical methods of analysis, but also uses the tools of game theory, decision theory, probability theory, Bayesian statistics, and other theories. Although the book has a propaedeutic character, it also contains some open problems. These problems include the aggregation of the opinions of the group under the condition of a conflicting base of premises in the theory of public choice, there are still open problems in the interpretation of Arrow’s impossibility theorem and others. Certainly, formalization in itself is not a general solution to the particular philosophical problem, but only a tool that allows to formulate a problem in a more rigorous and precise way, which sometimes allows to reveal some unexpected consequences, some implicit contradictions and new solutions. Despite the importance of the concept of coherence in ethics, decision theory, philosophy of law, Bayesian epistemology, philosophy of science, the existing formalizations of the concept of coherence are highly specialized for epistemology, researchers recognize the lack of the relevant explanatory models. Overall, the book is an excellent introduction in to the field of formal philosophy, which provides a general overview of different aspects of formal philosophy and the opportunity to study particular research topics by means of an extensive bibliography accompanying each of the chapters.

Lewis, David Kellogg (1941–2001)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter van Inwagen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Theory ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
David Lewis ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Logic ◽  
Rational Decision

David Lewis has made extremely important and influential contributions to many topics in metaphysics, philosophical logic, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of probability, rational decision theory, and ethics and social philosophy. His work on counterfactuals and the philosophy of modality has been especially influential.

scholarly journals A Logic of Comparative Support: Qualitative Conditional Probability Relations Representable by Popper Functions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Hawthorne
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Decision Theory ◽  
Classical Logic ◽  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Classical Probability ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Classical Setting ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Popper Functions ◽  
Self Reference

Revising classical logic—to deal with the paradoxes of self-reference, or vague propositions, for the purposes of scientific theory or of metaphysical anti-realism—requires the revision of probability theory. This chapter reviews the connection between classical logic and classical probability, clarifies nonclassical logic, giving simple examples, explores modifications of probability theory, using formal analogies to the classical setting, and provides two foundational justifications for these ‘nonclassical probabilities’. There follows an examination of extensions of the nonclassical framework: to conditionalization and decision theory in particular, before a final review of open questions and alternative approaches, and an evaluation of current progress.

scholarly journals Pragmatics and philosophy: In search of a paradigm

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasia M. Jaszczolt
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
List Type ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Philosophical Logic ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Philosophy Of Linguistics ◽  
Introductory Part ◽  
Methodology Of Science ◽  
Language Meaning

Abstract There is no doubt that pragmatic theory and philosophy of language are mutually relevant and intrinsically connected. The main question I address in this paper is how exactly they are interconnected in terms of (i) their respective objectives, (ii) explanans – explanandum relation, (iii) methods of enquiry, and (iv) drawing on associated disciplines. In the introductory part I attempt to bring some order into the diversity of use of such labels as philosophical logic, philosophical semantics, philosophical pragmatics, linguistic philosophy, or philosophy of linguistics, among others. In the following sections I focus on philosophical pragmatics as a branch of philosophy of language (pragmaticsPPL) and the trends and theories it gave rise to, discussing them against the background of methodology of science and in particular paradigms and paradigm shifts as identified in natural science. In the main part of the paper I address the following questions: How is pragmaticsPPL to be delimited?How do pragmatic solutions to questions about meaning fare vis-à-vis syntactic solutions? Is there a pattern emerging?and, relatedly,What are the future prospects for pragmaticsPPL in theories of natural language meaning? I conclude with a discussion of the relation between pragmaticsPPL and functionalism, observing that contextualism has to play a central role in functionalist pragmatics at the expense of minimalism and sententialism.

Models, Uncertainty, and the Sandia V&V Challenge Problem

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
George A. Hazelrigg ◽  
Georgia-Ann Klutke
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Decision Theory ◽  
Uncertainty Quantification ◽  
Model Validation ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Ill Posed ◽  
Solution Techniques

Abstract The purpose of this paper is not to present new results; rather, it is to show that the current approach to model validation is not consistent with the accepted mathematics of probability theory. Specifically, we argue that the Sandia V&V Challenge Problem is ill-posed in that the answers sought do not, mathematically, exist. We apply our arguments to show the types of mistakes present in the papers presented in the Journal of Verification, Validation and Uncertainty Quantification, Volume 1,1 along with the challenge problem. Further, we argue that, when the problem is properly posed, both the applicable methodology and the solution techniques are easily drawn from the well-developed mathematics of probability and decision theory. The unfortunate aspect of the challenge problem as currently stated is that it leads to incorrect and inappropriate mathematical approaches that should be avoided and corrected in the current literature.

SPIKING NEURAL P SYSTEMS: AN EARLY SURVEY

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (03) ◽  
pp. 435-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
GHEORGHE PĂUN ◽  
MARIO J. PÉREZ-JIMÉNEZ ◽  
ARTO SALOMAA
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Computing ◽  
Normal Forms ◽  
P Systems ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Open Problems ◽  
Computing Power ◽  
Spiking Neural P Systems ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Early Survey ◽  
Basic Ideas

Spiking neural P systems were introduced in the end of the year 2005, in the aim of incorporating in membrane computing the idea of working with unique objects ("spikes"), encoding the information in the time elapsed between consecutive spikes sent from a cell/neuron to another cell/neuron. More than one dozen of papers where written in the meantime, clarifying many of the basic properties of these devices, especially related to their computing power. The present paper quickly surveys the basic ideas and the basic results, presenting a complete to-date bibliography, and also giving a completing result related to the normal forms possible for spiking neural P systems: we prove that the indegree of such systems (the maximal number of incoming synapses of neurons) can be bounded by 2 without losing the computational completeness. A series of research topics and open problems are formulated.

The Oxford Handbook of Probability and Philosophy

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Probability Theory ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
The State ◽  
Science Ethics ◽  
Probabilistic Judgment ◽  
Standard Probability

Probability theory is a key tool of the physical, mathematical, and social sciences. It has also been playing an increasingly significant role in philosophy: in epistemology, philosophy of science, ethics, social philosophy, philosophy of religion, and elsewhere. This Handbook encapsulates and furthers the influence of philosophy on probability, and of probability on philosophy. Nearly forty articles summarize the state of play and present new insights in various areas of research at the intersection of these two fields. The volume begins with a primer on those parts of probability theory that we believe are most important for philosophers to know, and the rest is divided into seven main sections: history; formalism; alternatives to standard probability theory; interpretations and interpretive issues; probabilistic judgment and its applications; applications of probability: science; and applications of probability: philosophy.

Randomized switching in the two-envelope problem

2009 ◽  
Vol 465 (2111) ◽  
pp. 3309-3322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. McDonnell ◽  
Derek Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Decision Theory ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Switching Strategy ◽  
It Impacts ◽  
State Switching ◽  
Economics Literature ◽  
First Time ◽  
Deterministic Switching

The two-envelope problem is a conundrum in decision theory that is subject to longstanding debate. It is a counterintuitive problem of decidability between two different states, in the presence of uncertainty, where a player’s payoff must be maximized in some fashion. The problem is a significant one as it impacts on our understanding of probability theory, decision theory and optimization. It is timely to revisit this problem, as a number of related two-state switching phenomena are emerging in physics, engineering and economics literature. In this paper, we discuss this wider significance, and offer a new approach to the problem. For the first time, we analyse the problem by adopting Cover’s switching strategy—this is where we randomly switch states with a probability that is a smoothly decreasing function of the observed value of one state. Surprisingly, we show that the player’s payoff can be increased by this strategy. We also extend the problem to show that a deterministic switching strategy, based on a thresholded decision once the amount in an envelope is observed, is also workable.

scholarly journals Known Results and Open Problems in Hypercomplex Convexity

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-297
Author(s):  
Yuri Zelinskii
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Open Problems ◽  
Hypercomplex Analysis

AbstractA subject, which is treated in this review, combines in one bundle some questions of convex, hypercomplex analysis, probability theory and geometry.

Hintikka, Jaakko (1929–2015)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilkka Niiniluoto
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Inductive Logic ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Formal Epistemology ◽  
Philosophical Logic ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
Independence Friendly Logic

Jaakko Hintikka was a Finnish philosopher who developed important new methods and systems in mathematical and philosophical logic. Over a distinguished career in universities in Finland and the USA, he was one of the most cited analytic philosophers and published prolifically in mathematical and philosophical logic, philosophy of language, formal epistemology, philosophy of science and history of philosophy. Hintikka was a pioneer of possible-worlds semantics, epistemic logic, inductive logic, game-theoretical semantics, the interrogative approach to inquiry and independence-friendly logic. He was an expert on Aristotle, Leibniz, Kant, Peirce and Wittgenstein. He also influenced philosophy as a successful teacher and the long-time editor of the journal Synthese.

New Light on Medieval Philosophy: The Sophismata of Richard Kilvington

Dialogue ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Ashworth
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Philosophical Logic ◽  
Medieval Philosophy ◽  
Medieval Logic ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The One ◽  
Domain I ◽  
Mathematics And Physics ◽  
Analysis Of Motion

The fourteenth-century English philosopher and theologian Richard Kilvington (1302/5–61) presents a useful correction to popular views of medieval philosophy in two ways. On the one hand, he reminds us that to think of medieval philosophy in terms of Aquinas, Duns Scotus and Ockham, or to think of medieval logic in terms of Aristotelian syllogistic, is to overlook vast areas of intellectual endeavour. Kilvington, like many before and after him, was deeply concerned with problems that would now be assigned to philosophy of language; philosophical logic and philosophy of science. He discussed topics in epistemic logic, semantic paradoxes, problems of reference, particularly those connected with the interplay between quantifiers and modal or temporal operators, and problems arising from the use of infinite series in the analysis of motion and change. On the other hand, this very account of his work raises the important issue of conceptual domain. I have spoken as if Kilvington's work can be neatly classified in terms of contemporary interests; and the temptation to read medieval philosophy in modern terms is only strengthened when one recognizes Kilvington as the first member of the group of Oxford calculatores, men such as William Heytesbury and Richard Swineshead, whose discussions of mathematics and physics have caused them to be hailed as forerunners of modern science.

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