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16 - Levi's Ideals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2010

Erik J. Olsson
By
Seven Ove Hansson
Erik J. Olsson
Affiliation:
Lunds Universitet, Sweden
Seven Ove Hansson
Affiliation:
Philosophy Unit, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Isaac Levi's work has had what seems to be a lasting impact on several fields of philosophical inquiry. I am myself one of the many philosophers on whom he has had a decisive influence. His book Gambling with Truth was one of the major inspirations that led me to study philosophy, and I have continued to be an eager reader of his books and articles.

In this contribution I focus on Isaac Levi's choice of formal structures for the representation of beliefs. This aspect of his work exemplifies his influence; a large group of reseachers in decision theory and formal epistemology have either followed his proposals or taken them as starting points for their own developments. Since philosophy proceeds by criticism rather than by praise, I focus on what I perceive as possible problems and needs for clarification.

TWO TYPES OF IDEALIZATION

The representation of philosophical subject matter in formal language is always the outcome of an idealization. There are two types of idealization that should be carefully distinguished between, although they are often intertwined. First, to idealize can mean to simplify for the sake of clarity. The resulting formal model is an ideal in the sense of “[s]omething existing only as a mental conception” (Oxford English Dictionary).

Type
Chapter
Information
Knowledge and Inquiry
Essays on the Pragmatism of Isaac Levi
 , pp. 241 - 247
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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References

F⊘llesdal, Dagfinn, and Risto Hilpinen. 1970. “Deontic Logic: An Introduction.” In Hilpinen, Risto (ed.), Deontic Logic: Introductory and Systematic Readings, pp. 1–35. Dordrecht: ReidelGoogle Scholar
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Levi, Isaac. 1967. Gambling with Truth: An Essay on Induction and the Aims of Science. New York: BorzoiGoogle Scholar
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Levi, Isaac. 2002. “Commitment and Change of View.” In Bermúdez, José Luis and Millar, Alan (eds.), Reason and Nature: Essays in the Theory of Rationality, pp. 209–31. Oxford: ClarendonGoogle Scholar
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McMullin, Ernan. 1985. “Galilean Idealization.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 16: 247–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1934. “The Fixation of Belief.” In Hartshorne, Charles and Weiss, Paul (eds.), Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, vol. 5: Pragmatism and Pragmaticism, pp. 223–47. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University PressGoogle Scholar

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  • Levi's Ideals
  • Erik J. Olsson, Lunds Universitet, Sweden
  • Book: Knowledge and Inquiry
  • Online publication: 05 March 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584312.018
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  • Levi's Ideals
  • Erik J. Olsson, Lunds Universitet, Sweden
  • Book: Knowledge and Inquiry
  • Online publication: 05 March 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584312.018
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Levi's Ideals
  • Erik J. Olsson, Lunds Universitet, Sweden
  • Book: Knowledge and Inquiry
  • Online publication: 05 March 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584312.018
Available formats
×