The Art of Conjecturing: Probability and Utility

Carlo Zappia ()
Additional contact information
Carlo Zappia: University of Siena

Chapter Chapter 2 in Uncertainty in Economics, 2025, pp 7-24 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter introduces some basic concepts pertaining to the interplay between probability and risk, as outlined in the earliest, albeit not always systematic, studies of the subject. In order to define the field of inquiry, the chapter illustrates the insights of Blaise Pascal and Daniel Bernoulli, who were among the first to apply mathematical analysis to games of chance, introducing expected utility maximization. These insights are presented alongside with the analyses of William Stanley Jevons and Alfred Marshall, who objected to its use.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:spshcp:978-3-031-91221-4_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031912214

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-91221-4_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().