The Epistemology of Indicative Conditionals: Formal and Empirical Approaches

234 Pages·2015·1.695 MB·English

by  Igor Douven

THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF INDICATIVE
CONDITIONALS

Conditionalsaresentencesoftheform“IfA,thenB,”andtheyplay
acentralroleinscientific,logical,andeverydayreasoning.Theyhave
beeninthephilosophicallimelightforcenturies,andmorerecently,

theyhavealsobeenreceivingattentionfrompsychologists,linguists,
and computer scientists. In spite of this, many key questions con-
cerningconditionalsremainunanswered.Whilemostoftheworkon

conditionals has addressed semantical questions – questions about
thetruthconditionsofconditionals–thisbookfocussesonthemain
epistemologicalquestionsthatconditionalsgiveriseto,suchas:What
aretheprobabilitiesofconditionals?Whenisaconditionalacceptable

or assertable? What do we learn when we receive new conditional

information? In answering these questions, this book combines the

formal tools of logic and probability theory with the experimental
approachofcognitivepsychology.Itwillbeofinteresttostudentsand
researchersinlogic,epistemology,andthepsychologyofreasoning.

igor douvenisDirecteurdeRechercheatSciences,normes,déci-
sion,UniversitéParis-Sorbonne.Hehaspublishedwidelyontopicsin
formalepistemology,socialepistemology,thephilosophyoflanguage,
metaphysics,andcognitivescience.

THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF

INDICATIVE

CONDITIONALS

Formal and Empirical Approaches

IGOR DOUVEN

Sciences,normes,décision(CNRS)
Paris-SorbonneUniversity
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107111455
©IgorDouven2016

Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary

LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Douven,Igor,author.
Theepistemologyofindicativeconditionals:formaland

empiricalapproaches:FINALVERSION/IgorDouven.

pages cm
ISBN978-1-107-11145-5(hardback)
1. Grammar,Comparativeandgeneral–Conditionals.
2. Knowledge,Theoryof. 3. Semantics(Philosophy) I. Title.
P292.5.D68 2015
415–dc23
2015016414

ISBN978-1-107-11145-5Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof

URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,

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Contents

ListofFiguresandTables page vii
PrefaceandAcknowledgments ix

1 Agenda 1
1.1 Keyquestions 4
1.2 Scopeofthebook 9
1.3 Methodology 16
1.4 Whatistocome 25
1.5 Intendedaudience 27

2 Semantics 29

2.1 Themainsemanticsofconditionals 30
2.2 Inferentialism 35
2.3 Whybelievethatconditionalshavetruthconditions? 43

2.4 Argumentsagainstthematerialconditionalaccount 49
2.5 Argumentsagainstthepossibleworldsaccount 52
2.6 Theprobabilitiesofconditionals:furtherconsiderations
against the material conditional account and the
possibleworldsaccount 57
2.7 Edgingtonagainsttruth-conditionality 61
3 Probability 64
3.1 Triviality 64
3.2 Probabilitiesofconditionals:theempiricalturn 66
3.3 Trivialityundone 71
3.4 Thereturnoftriviality? 77
3.5 Bradley’spreservationargument 81

4 Acceptability 91
4.1 Gradedacceptability 93
4.2 QualitativeAdams’Thesis 102
vi Contents
4.3 Theroleofevidentialsupport 107
4.4 Anticipatedobjections 109
4.5 Aside:theacceptabilityofcounterfactuals 115

4.6 Testingtheroleofevidentialsupport 117
4.7 Refiningtheproposal? 120

5 Closure 123
5.1 TheLotteryandPrefaceParadoxes,conditionalversions 124

5.2 Closureprinciples:analyticalresults 127
5.3 Goingbeyondstrictvalidity:aconjecture 133
5.4 Determiningdegreesofvalidity 136
5.5 Testingtheconjecture:somepointers 145
6 Updating 150
6.1 Thedata 151
6.2 Chartingthefield 154
6.3 Updatingonconditionalsasexplanatoryreasoning 164
7 Progress? 173

APPENDICES

A ProofofTheorem5.2.1 179
B Surveyexperimentmaterials 196

Bibliography 197
Index 213
List of Figures and Tables

Figures

2.1 The Stalnaker conditional “If ϕ, thenψ ” in different possible
worldsmodels 32
6.1 Solid arrows indicate closest A-worlds; dashed arrows indicate
closest“Ifϕ,thenψ ”-worlds;grayareasindicatetheStalnakerian
propositionexpressedby“Ifϕ,thenψ”intherespectivemodels 158
6.2 Aflowchartrepresentationofthemodelofupdatingonconditionals.
∗
Pr and Pr are the degrees-of-belief functions before and after
learning“Ifϕ,thenψ,”respectively 170

Tables
5.1 Candidateclosureprinciples 129
5.2 Averagesover10runsof1,000models;standarddeviationsappear
inparentheses 139
5.3 Results of survey experiment: ratios of p-models that are also
c-modelstoallp-models;percentagesappearinparentheses 144
6.1 Probabilities assigned to ϕ in models I–III after imaging and
conditionalizing, respectively, on the proposition expressed by
“Ifϕ,thenψ”inthesemodels 159