Chance in boltzmannian statistical mechanics

Abstract

In two recent papers Barry Loewer (2001, 2004) has suggested to interpret probabilities in statistical mechanics as chances in David Lewis's (1994) sense. I first give a precise formulation of this proposal, then raise two fundamental objections, and finally conclude that these can be overcome only at the price of interpreting these probabilities epistemically. Copyright 2008 by the Philosophy of Science Association. All rights reserved.