Probability & Decision Theory · Philosophy
Set theory; concepts such as Vitali sets, Von Neumann - Morgenstern utility, infinities, diagonalizations, etc.
First and foremost, I have learned how omnipresent probabilities are in science and also our everyday life. I was intrigued by the number of interpretations probabilities can have and that these actually influence the world view one accounts for. Furthermore, the presentation I had to prepare really helped me developing in preparing slides. Moreover, I had the opportunity to test another presentation style that I was happy about.
large and small infinities, a bunch of probability and set theory ideas that went way over my head, and alittle decision theory
I got a good grasp of the standard views on probability and decision theory, in addition to an overview of some of the philosophical debates on the subject. The material about quantum mechanics was particularly interesting.
The learning from this course was independent from the course material
A heavy amount of focus has been given to probability and a third or so has been given to decision theory. We studied the mathematical and philosophical foundations of probability theories, interpretations of probability, etc, as well as the foundational works in decision theory and some challenges to them.
probabilities and how to think about them philosophically
Probability Axioms, Algebra formalisms, Infinite sets and cardinality, Axiom of Choice, Cantor's diagonalization, von Mises frequency theory, Consistency of the axioms of frequency theory, de Finetti's exchangeability and subjective formalism of objective chance, decision theory and preference relations
Very good overview over philosophical positions regarding probabilities. Wide spectrum of areas.
The course is difficult without background in formal math.