Good Just Isn't Good Enough: Humean Chances and Boltzmannian Statistical Physics
نویسنده
چکیده
Statistical physicists assume a probability distribution over micro-states to explain thermodynamic behavior. The question of this paper is whether these probabilities are part of a best system and can thus be interpreted as Humean chances. I consider two Boltzmannian accounts of the Second Law, viz. a globalist and a localist one. In both cases, the probabilities fail to be chances because they have rivals that are roughly equally good. I conclude with the diagnosis that welldefined micro-probabilities under-estimate the robust character of explanations in statistical physics.
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