Eclectic probability - Definition and Overview

Many statisticians adopt an eclectic view of the debate between proponents of the frequency interpretation of probability and proponents of personal probability. These eclectics say in essence, "if it walks like a duck...". They are willing to consider any phenomena which obey the axioms of probability theory as a reasonable interpretation. Sometimes they will use methods associated with frequentists and at other times, they use Bayesian methods.

Some philosophers of probability support eclectic probability as a principled, rather than pragmatic, view. They argue that different interpretations of probability are independent of one another, applying in different contexts. For example, one might accept a frequency interpretation of probability for repeatable experiments, a logical interpretation of probability for a single-case event with highly specific prior information, and a personal interpretation of probability for dealing with epistemic uncertainty, all without committing an inconsistency.