On Łukasiewicz's theory of probability

Timothy Childers

Ondrej Majer

pp. 303-312

in: Katarzyna Kijania-Placek, Jan Woleński (eds), The Lvov-Warsaw school and contemporary philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 1998

Abstract

Łukasiewicz's theory of probability has been neglected. This is perhaps due to the fact that it was written at an early stage in the development of formal logic, and so Łukasiewicz's intentions are at times obscure. We argue that this neglect is unjust: by restating the theory in modern terms, and paying careful attention to Lukasiewicz's motivations, the theory is of interest, especially within its historical setting. We point out a novel notion of interpretation which can be used to explicate the theory, and we also note that the theory is a pragmatic one. We conclude by raising three puzzles, and hopefully answering them.

Cited authors

Łukasiewicz Jan