Q&A: f(p): From Probability to the Halakhic Norm
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
f(p): From Probability to the Halakhic Norm
Question
If truth is a degree of probability—not certainty—is there a deontic function f:[0,1]→{obligation, permission, prohibition} from which “in a Torah-level doubt, one must be stringent” and “in a double doubt, one may be lenient” follow as a matter of principle (not merely as an institutional convention)? And if so—what is the obligating threshold p*?
Answer
1/pi = p