A survey of ranking theory

Wolfgang Spohn

pp. 303-347

in: Horacio Arló-Costa, Vincent F. Hendricks, Johan van Benthem (eds), Readings in formal epistemology, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

Epistemology is concerned with the fundamental laws of thought, belief, or judgment. It may inquire the fundamental relations among the objects or contents of thought and belief, i.e., among propositions or sentences. Then we enter the vast realm of formal logic. Or it may inquire the activity of judging or the attitude of believing itself. Often, we talk as if this would be a yes or no affair. From time immemorial, though, we know that judgment is firm or less than firm, that belief is a matter of degree. This insight opens another vast realm of formal epistemology.