
Counterfactuals and Probability
Moritz Schulz(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 2. February 2017
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-19-878595-8 (ISBN)
Description
Moritz Schulz explores counterfactual thought and language: what would have happened if things had gone a different way. Counterfactual questions may concern large scale derivations (what would have happened if Nixon had launched a nuclear attack) or small scale evaluations of minor derivations (what would have happened if I had decided to join a different profession). A common impression, which receives a thorough defence in the book, is that oftentimes we find it impossible to know what would have happened. However, this does not mean that we are completely at a loss: we are typically capable of evaluating counterfactual questions probabilistically: we can say what would have been likely or unlikely to happen.
Schulz describes these probabilistic ways of evaluating counterfactual questions and turns the data into a novel account of the workings of counterfactual thought.
Schulz describes these probabilistic ways of evaluating counterfactual questions and turns the data into a novel account of the workings of counterfactual thought.
Reviews / Votes
This is an exciting investigation of the semantics of counterfactuals that I highly recommend to both experts and people who want to catch up with recent results in the literature. It addresses both epistemic and metaphysical aspects of counterfactuals, and develops a novel refinement of the standard semantics. ... a well written and original study that merits reading from various perspectives. * Holger Andreas, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
448 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-878595-8 (9780198785958)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Moritz Schulz
Counterfactuals and Probability
E-Book
01/2017
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€42.49
Available for download
Person
Moritz Schulz studied Mathematics and Philosophy at the University of Hamburg before completing a BPhil at Oxford University. Shultz received his PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2011. Since then, he completed a post-doc at the University of Barcelona and acted as an assistant at the University of Tuebingen before taking up his current role as junior professor at the University of Hamburg.
Content
1: Introduction
2: The Problem of Evaluating Counterfactuals
3: Counterfactual Chances
4: A Puzzle About Counterfactuals
5: Restriction and Modification
6: Counterfactuals and Arbitrariness
7: Applications
8: Triviality
9: Concluding Remarks
2: The Problem of Evaluating Counterfactuals
3: Counterfactual Chances
4: A Puzzle About Counterfactuals
5: Restriction and Modification
6: Counterfactuals and Arbitrariness
7: Applications
8: Triviality
9: Concluding Remarks