You Can't Always Get What You Want Some Considerations Regarding Conditional Probabilities.

The standard treatment of conditional probability leaves conditional probability undefined when the conditioning proposition has zero probability. Nonetheless, some find the option of extending the scope of conditional probability to include zero-probability conditions attractive or even compelling....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Erkenntnis Vol. 80; no. 3; pp. 573 - 604
Main Author: Myrvold, Wayne
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Jun2015
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:The standard treatment of conditional probability leaves conditional probability undefined when the conditioning proposition has zero probability. Nonetheless, some find the option of extending the scope of conditional probability to include zero-probability conditions attractive or even compelling. This article reviews some of the pitfalls associated with this move, and concludes that, for the most part, probabilities conditional on zero-probability propositions are more trouble than they are worth.