Richard D. Jeffrey

Richard D. Jeffrey was a philosopher known for his work in decision theory and epistemology. He developed the "probabilistic or Bayesian" approach to understanding how rational agents should update their beliefs based on new evidence. Jeffrey introduced concepts like "Jeffrey conditioning," a method for updating beliefs that differ from standard Bayesian updating when evidence isn’t certain but uncertain or partial. His work helps explain how people make rational decisions when faced with complex or uncertain information, contributing significantly to philosophy, economics, and cognitive science by clarifying the principles of rational belief and decision-making.