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Published September 2012 | public
Journal Article

Objective and subjective probability in gene expression

Abstract

In this paper I address the question of whether the probabilities that appear in models of stochastic gene expression are objective or subjective. I argue that while our best models of the phenomena in question are stochastic models, this fact should not lead us to automatically assume that the processes are inherently stochastic. After distinguishing between models and reality, I give a brief introduction to the philosophical problem of the interpretation of probability statements. I argue that the objective vs. subjective distinction is a false dichotomy and is an unhelpful distinction in this case. Instead, the probabilities in our models of gene expression exhibit standard features of both objectivity and subjectivity.

Additional Information

© 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Available online 7 April 2012. Thanks to Dick Burian, Delphine Kolesnik, Jean-Jacques Kupiec, and Olivier Gandrillon for inviting me to the "Chance at the Heart of the Cell" conference in Lyon and for the invitation to write this paper. Thanks also to Luke Glynn and Chris Hitchcock for very helpful discussions on this topic and to Kenny Easwaran, Matt Kopec, Elliott Sober, Marius Stan, Charlotte Werndl, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on the paper.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023