Credences are Beliefs about Probabilities: A Defense from Triviality

Erkenntnis 89 (3):1235-1255 (2023)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

It is often claimed that credences are not reducible to ordinary beliefs about probabilities. Such a reduction appears to be decisively ruled out by certain sorts of triviality results–analogous to those often discussed in the literature on conditionals. I show why these results do not, in fact, rule out the view. They merely give us a constraint on what such a reduction could look like. In particular they show that there is no single proposition belief in which suffices for having a particular credence, regardless of one’s evidence. But if we allow such propositions to vary with evidence–as we should–then the results do not rule out a reduction. So, at least on this count, credences might very well just be beliefs about probabilities.

Author's Profile

Benjamin Lennertz
Colgate University

Analytics

Added to PP
2023-03-07

Downloads
239 (#61,840)

6 months
142 (#21,943)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?