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Single Idea 6797

[from 'Philosophy of Science' by Alexander Bird, in 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 6. Probability ]

Full Idea

In tossing a coin, the objective probability of tails is a measure of the bias of the coin; the bias and the probability are objective features of the coin, like its mass and shape; these properties have nothing to do with our beliefs about the coin.

Gist of Idea

Objective probability of tails measures the bias of the coin, not our beliefs about it

Source

Alexander Bird (Philosophy of Science [1998], Ch.6)

Book Reference

Bird,Alexander: 'Philosophy of Science' [UCL Press 2000], p.190


A Reaction

Despite my reservation that God would not seem to be very interested in the probabilities of coin-tossing, since he knows each outcome with certaintly, this is fairly convincing. God might say that the coin has a 'three-to-two bias'.