Lara Buchak sets out an original account of the principles that govern
rational decision-making in the face of risk. A distinctive feature of
these decisions is that individuals are forced to consider how their
choices will turn out under various circumstances, and decide how to
trade off the possibility that a choice will turn out well against the
possibility that it will turn out poorly. The orthodox view is that
there is only one acceptable way to do this: rational individuals must
maximize expected utility. Buchak's contention, however, is that the
orthodox theory (expected utility theory) dictates an overly narrow
way in which considerations about risk can play a role in an
individual's choices. Combining research from economics and
philosophy, she argues for an alternative, more permissive, theory of
decision-making: one that allows individuals to pay special attention
to the worst-case or best-case scenario (among other 'global features'
of gambles). This theory, risk-weighted expected utility theory,
better captures the preferences of actual decision-makers.
Furthermore, it isolates the distinct roles that beliefs, desires, and
risk-attitudes play in decision-making. Finally, contra the orthodox
view, Buchak argues that decision-makers whose preferences can be
captured by risk-weighted expected utility theory are rational. Thus,
Risk and Rationality is in many ways a vindication of the ordinary
decision-maker—particularly his or her attitude towards risk—from
the point of view of even ideal rationality.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191652325
Publisert
2020
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter