Bertrand's Paradox and the Maximum Entropy Principle

Nicholas SHACKEL; Darrell Patrick ROWBOTTOM

doi:10.1111/phpr.12596

Bertrand's Paradox and the Maximum Entropy Principle

Nicholas SHACKEL, Darrell Patrick ROWBOTTOM

Department of Philosophy

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An important suggestion of objective Bayesians is that the maximum entropy principle can replace a principle which is known to get into paradoxical difficulties: the principle of indifference. No one has previously determined whether the maximum entropy principle is better able to solve Bertrand's chord paradox than the principle of indifference. In this paper I show that it is not. Additionally, the course of the analysis brings to light a new paradox, a revenge paradox of the chords, that is unique to the maximum entropy principle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	505-523
Number of pages	19
Journal	Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
Volume	101
Issue number	3
Early online date	18 May 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12596
Publication status	Published - Nov 2020

Bibliographical note

Author’s contributions: Shackel 90%, Rowbottom 10%. In memoriam Michael Clark 1940–2019, whoshared our delight in the philosophical problems posed by paradoxes.

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10.1111/phpr.12596

https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/121298/13/shackel%20bertrand%27s%20paradox%20and%20the%20mep%208%20PPR%20for%20ORCA.pdfLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

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Bertrand's Paradox and the Maximum Entropy Principle

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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