[SydPhil] USyd Postgrad Work in Progress Talk 21/10/13

[Simon Varey]

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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