Hybrid Deference, Hybrid Chance

ABSTRACT If you learn about one kind of chance and nothing else, then you should defer to those chances. But what if you learn about more than one kind of chance? In such “hybrid” cases, familiar chance‐credence principles, like the Principal Principle, go silent when they should intuitively speak. This paper proposes a new principle, the Parent Principle, which speaks in these cases and also yields the right verdicts in single‐kind cases. I discuss the implications of the Parent Principle proposal for the priority of fundamental dynamical chance and the autonomy of special science chances, as well as for the view that chance can be entirely characterized by its predictive, credence‐guiding role.

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Publication Details

Journal
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
Published
2025-11-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.70071
Primary Topic
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Hybrid Deference, Hybrid Chance

Alexander Meehan
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
article

Hybrid Deference, Hybrid Chance

Alexander Meehan
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT If you learn about one kind of chance and nothing else, then you should defer to those chances. But what if you learn about more than one kind of chance? In such “hybrid” cases, familiar chance‐credence principles, like the Principal Principle, go silent when they should intuitively speak. This paper proposes a new principle, the Parent Principle, which speaks in these cases and also yields the right verdicts in single‐kind cases. I discuss the implications of the Parent Principle proposal for the priority of fundamental dynamical chance and the autonomy of special science chances, as well as for the view that chance can be entirely characterized by its predictive, credence‐guiding role.

Philosophy and Phenomenological ResearchVol. 112(1)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
Yale University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Pittsburgh, BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder
Openalex Percentile: Top 70%
Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
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