Representing vague opinion

• Main Authors: Daniel J. McKaughan, John M. Drake
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2012-08-01
• Series: Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology
• Subjects: Belief; models of opinion; subjective probability; supervaluation; uncertainty; van Fraassen; vagueness.
• Online Access: http://www.periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/1808-1711.2012v16n2p341/24104

Current supervaluation models of opinion, notably van Fraassen’s (1984; 1989; 1990; 1998; 2005; 2006) use of intervals to characterize vague opinion, capture nuances of ordinary reflection which are overlooked by classic measure theoretic models of subjective probability. However, after briefly explaining van Fraassen’s approach, we present two limitations in his current framework which provide clear empirical reasons for seeking a refinement. Any empirically adequate account of our actual judgments must reckon with the fact that these are typically neither uniform through the range of outcomes we take to be serious possibilities nor abrupt at the edges.