Here are the details for the next USyd Postgrad Work in Progress talk: Speaker: Michael Duncan
Title: The Principle of Indifference and Rational Belief The Principle of Indifference (or rather one version of it) states that, for any mutually exclusive hypotheses A and B, if the available evidence does not favour one over the other then you should have equal confidence in them. While initially very plausible, the principle faces a serious difficulty: there appear to be occasions where it cannot be applied consistently. For this reason most philosophers reject it outright in favour more permissive views. In this talk I will argue that this response goes too far. The Principle of Indifference can be broken down into two components, one of which is extremely plausible; yet permissive views are inconsistent with this component and thus (I argue) should be rejected. I will then look at some ways of interpreting, or modifying, the Principle of Indifference so that it can be consistently applied in all cases. Time: 4:30pm, Mon Oct 21 Location: S401, Main Quad, University of Sydney Hope to see you all there, Simon Varey Postgraduate Colloquium Co-ordinator
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