DOCSLIB.ORG

Belief, Desire, and Rational Choice Course Aims in This Course, You Will

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Belief, Desire, and Rational Choice Course Aims in This Course, You Will Belief, desire, and rational choice Course aims In this course, you will learn the basics of decision theory, a formal model of rational choice that is central to many discussions in philosophy of mind, epistemology, action theory, epistemology, cognitive science, philosophy of science, and political philosophy. Along the way, you will learn about the Bayesian perspective on rationality and about the prospects for a functionalist/interpretationist account of mental states. We will read and discuss a selection of papers and book chapters. Some of these will be technical and difficult, but you will learn to work your way through literature of this kind and understand the often simple ideas hidden behind the technicalities. You will also practice public speaking by giving a (very) short presentation. Seminar content Decision theory systematizes the connection between belief, desire, and rational choice -- very roughly, that rational agents act in a way that would bring them closer to satisfying their desires if the world were as they believe it to be. After introducing the basic framework of decision theory, we will mainly focus on two questions. First, does rationality impose constraints on what an agent may believe or desire, and if so, what are these constraints? Second, can we turn around the principles of decision theory and define (or explicate) an agent's beliefs and desires in terms of their choices? Readings A. Basics • Rachael Briggs, "Normative theories of rational choice: expected utility", Stanford Encyclopedia, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationality-normative-utility/ • Patrick Maher, pages 1-23 of Betting on Theories, Cambridge University Press 1993 (first 6 sections of chapter 1, "The logic of preference") • James Joyce, pages 48-70 of The Foundations of Causal Decision Theory, Cambridge University Press 1999 (first 6 sections of chapter 2, "Decision Problems") B. Bounded Rationality • Daniel Kahnemann, pages 697-706 of "A perspective on Judgment and Choice", American Psychologist 2003, 697-720 • Joseph Halpern, Rafael Pass, and Lior Seeman, "Decision Theory with Resource Topics‐Bounded in cognitive Agents." science 2014, 245-257. C. The pragmatic interpretation of belief and desire • Robert Stalnaker, chapter 1 ("The problem of intentionality") of Inquiry, Cambridge University Press, 1984 • David Braddon-Mitchell and Frank Jackson, chapter 2 ("Behaviorism and Beyond") of Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, 2nd edition, Blackwell 2007 • David Lewis, "Radical Interpretation", Synthese 1974, 331-344 • Daniel Dennett, "Intentional Systems Theory". In Brian McLaughlin, Ansgar Beckermann and Sven Walter (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind, Oxford University Press, 2011, pages 339-350 • Lina Erikson and Alan Hajek, "What are degrees of belief?", Studia Logica 2007, 185-215 D. Constraints on belief • Brian Skyrms, pages 20-29 of Pragmatics and Empiricism, Yale University Press, 1984 (excerpt of chapter "Degrees of Belief") • David Christensen, "Preference-based arguments for probabilism", Philosophy of Science 2001, 356-376 • Christopher Meacham, "Impermissive Bayesianism", Erkenntnis 2014, 1185-1217 E. Constraints on desire • Simon Blackburn, chapter 6 ("Game theory and rational choice") of Ruling Passions, Oxford University Press, 1998 • Paul Weirich, "Expected utility and risk", British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 1986, 419-442 • Lara Buchak, chapter 4 ("Redescription") of Risk and Rationality, Oxford University Press, 2013 (pages 113-147) • Lara Buchak, "Risks and Tradeoffs", Erkenntnis 2014, 1091-1117. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Wittgenstein, Wright, Rorty and Minimalism Author(S): Simon Blackburn Source: Mind , Jan., 1998, Vol
    Wittgenstein, Wright, Rorty and Minimalism Author(s): Simon Blackburn Source: Mind , Jan., 1998, Vol. 107, No. 425 (Jan., 1998), pp. 157-181 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the Mind Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/2659811 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Oxford University Press and are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Mind This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Mon, 29 Jun 2020 15:38:47 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms SYMPOSIUM: REALISMAND TRUTH Wittgenstein, Wright, Rorty and Minimalism SIMON BLACKBURN 1. Introduction William James said that sometimes detailed philosophical argument is irrelevant. Once a current of thought is really under way, trying to oppose it with argument is like planting a stick in a river to try to alter its course: ''round your obstacle flows the water and 'gets there just the same"' (James 1909, p. 55). He thought pragmatism was such a river. There is a contemporary river that sometimes calls itself pragmatism, although other titles are probably better. At any rate it is the denial of differences, the cel- ebration of the seamless web of language, the soothing away of distinc- tions, whether of primary versus secondary, fact versus value, description versus expression, or of any other significant kind.
    [Show full text]
  • 607 RN Johnson and M. Smith (Eds.) the Range and Influence of Simon Blackburn's Work Is Reflected in The
    Book Reviews 607 R.N. Johnson and M. Smith (eds.) Passions and Projections: Themes from the Philosophy of Simon Blackburn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), xx + 276 pages. isbn: 9780198723172. Hardback: $65.00. The range and influence of Simon Blackburn’s work is reflected in the the- matic variety of the contributions to this excellent volume edited by Robert N. Johnson and Michael Smith. The quality of the essays is consistently high, and together they provide a comprehensive, in-depth treatment of Black- burn’s many original and controversial ideas. The book is divided in two parts: Metaphysics and Epistemology (eight chapters), and Metaethics and Moral Psychology (six chapters). I will discuss one chapter below, but first let me of- fer a brief overview of the other essays. Louise Antony explores the relation between her position and Blackburn’s when it comes to giving an account of folk psychology, and suggests that their main disagreement concerns the need for a “language of thought” hypothesis. Helen Beebee compares Blackburn’s Humean account of causation, on which causal claims express inferential commitments, with a different projectivist view, proposed by Frank Ramsey and Huw Price, according to which causal discourse encodes the epistemic standpoint of a deliberating agent. Frank Jackson uses a possible worlds framework to give an account of the content of singular thought, a topic explored by Blackburn in Spreading the Word (Oxford University Press, 1984). Carrie Jenkins argues that quasi-realists about any domain of thought need to account for the possibility of knowledge in that domain, and that her own explanation-based epistemology might be useful in addressing this challenge.
    [Show full text]
  • Saving Moral Realism: Against Blackburn's Projectivism
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2015 Saving Moral Realism: Against Blackburn's Projectivism Paul James Cummins Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/895 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] SAVING MORAL REALISM: AGAINST BLACKBURN’S PROJECTIVISM BY PAUL J. CUMMINS A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2015 © 2015 Paul J. Cummins All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in Philosophy in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. David M. Rosenthal (Date) Chair of Examining Committee John Greenwood (Date) Executive Officer Steven M. Cahn Stefan Baumrin Rosamond Rhodes Supervisory Committee The City University of New York iii Abstract SAVING MORAL REALISM: AGAINST BLACKBURN’S PROJECTIVISM by Paul J. Cummins Adviser: Professor Steven M. Cahn In the argumentative dialectic between moral realists and non-cognitivist moral antirealists each side in the debate is typically thought to enjoy a different prima facie advantage over its rival. Moral realism gains plausibility from its truth-conditional semantics because it can explain the meaning of moral judgments on the same basis as ordinary propositions.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Philosophy Paul Muench University of Montana - Missoula, [email protected]
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi Fall 9-1-2018 PHL 101Y.01: Introduction to Philosophy Paul Muench University of Montana - Missoula, [email protected] Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Recommended Citation Muench, Paul, "PHL 101Y.01: Introduction to Philosophy" (2018). Syllabi. 8293. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/8293 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Philosophy 101Y/L University of Montana Prof. Paul Muench (pronounced “Minch”) Fall 2018 T.A.: Mason Voehl office: LA 151 office hours: Tue, 11-12; Wed, 1-3; Thu, 2-3; or by appointment mailbox: LA 152 email: office phone: (406) 243-2351 ___________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction to Philosophy Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 10-10:50 a.m., LA 11 Course Objectives This course will introduce you to some of the questions that philosophers have traditionally asked (questions about what we know and how we know it, about what is real, about what is valuable, and about how one should live) and to some of the answers they have proposed. It will also introduce you to some of the skills and methods used in philosophical inquiry, skills and methods that may be useful in other sorts of inquiries as well. These include the ability to analyze and criticize arguments; the ability to articulate one’s own views and to support them with reasoned arguments; and the ability to read a text carefully, sympathetically, and critically.
    [Show full text]
  • Quasi-Realism in Moral Philosophy an Interview with Simon Blackburn
    QUASI-REALISM IN MORAL PHILOSOPHY An interview with SIMON BLACKBURN By Darlei Dall´Agnol ethic@ - Would you, please, introduce yourself to the readers of ethic@ and tell us why you chose to study philosophy and what your main interests in it are? I chose to study philosophy because I was bored with the natural sciences of the school. I went up to Cambridge, people expected me to read natural sciences and so, physics, chemistry. But I decided that my friends in art subjects were having a much better time. They were sitting around discussing novels, while I was sitting in a laboratory learning about properties. I wanted to change to an art subject. The admission teacher said that since I’ve been in sciences, I wouldn’t like English because of all its topics, because it was not vigorous. Philosophy was the thing for me. I was really directed into it. But when I got up to Cambridge, I had a wonderful tutor, a man called Casemir Lewy. He was the editor of G. E. Moore. He made all these fascinating remarks about philosophy. So, I became a philosopher by accident. It was luck that I went to that college, that tutor, that direction. I could have been anything, but I would probably be a lawyer. ethic@ - You have been developing over the years a metaphysical program known as “quasi-realism”. How would you explain it in a few words to our readers? I think, the easiest way to understand my program is if we look back to people likeA.J.Ayer,Language, truth and logic, Charles Stevenson, Ethics and language,and the expressivist or emotivist traditions in ethics.
    [Show full text]
  • Truth: a Guide for the Perplexed Free
    FREE TRUTH: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED PDF Simon Blackburn | 272 pages | 25 May 2006 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780141014258 | English | London, United Kingdom Truth: A Guide by Simon Blackburn In the new edition the three volumes of the first edition have been reduced to one volume by the elimination of the notes; besides Hebrew words and phrases have been eliminated or transliterated. By these changes the translator sought to produce a cheap edition in order to bring the work of Maimonides within the reach of all students of Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed and Jewish Literature. This contains— 1 A short Life of Maimonides, in which special attention is given to his alleged apostasy. Parts of the Translation have been contributed by Mr. Joseph Abrahams, B. Gollancz—the Introduction by the former, and the first twenty-five chapters by the latter. In conclusion I beg to tender my thanks to Rev. Loewy, Editor of the Publications of the Hebrew Literature Society, for his careful revision of my manuscript and proofs, and to Mr. Neubauer, M. The circumstances which led to the transference of the head-quarters of Jewish learning from the East to the West in the tenth century are thus narrated in the Sefer ha-kabbalah of Rabbi Abraham ben David:. But long before that time Heaven had willed that there should be a discontinuance of the pecuniary gifts which used to be sent from Palestine, North Africa and Europe. Heaven had also decreed that a ship sailing from Bari should be captured by Ibn Romahis, commander of the naval forces of Abd-er-rahman al-nasr.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethics, a Very Short Introduction
    Ethics: A Very Short Introduction ‘This little book is an admirable introduction to its alarming subject: sane, thoughtful, sensitive and lively’ Mary Midgley, Times Higher Education Supplement ‘sparkling clear’ Guardian ‘wonderfully concise, direct and to the point’ Times Literary Supplement ‘plays lightly and gracefully over . philosophical themes, including the relationship between good and living well.’ New Yorker Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in more than 25 languages worldwide. The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very Short Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to conceptual art and cosmology. Very Short Introductions available now: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Continental Philosophy Julia Annas Simon Critchley THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE COSMOLOGY Peter Coles John Blair CRYPTOGRAPHY ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia Fred Piper and Sean Murphy ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn DADA AND SURREALISM ARCHITECTURE David Hopkins Andrew Ballantyne Darwin Jonathan Howard ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes Democracy Bernard Crick ART HISTORY Dana Arnold DESCARTES Tom Sorell ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland DRUGS Leslie Iversen THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH Martin Redfern ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY Atheism Julian Baggini Geraldine Pinch Augustine Henry
    [Show full text]
  • Simon Blackburn, Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford University Press
    Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION The ‘self has been the most important matter of concern for human being. Philosophy, religion, psychology etc. have all devoted themselves to the pursuit of the self and its meaning. In the history of Greek philosophy, Heraclitus (Heracleitus, 535 to 475 BC.) said, I pursue my self. Antithesnes (444-368 BC.) said that the purpose of Philosophy was the ability to associate with our self The Delphic oracle ‘Man! know thyself has attracted a great deal of Philosophers. ‘ In the history of Indian philosophy, the self is pursued in the form oi Atman. The term ‘ataia/i'originally meant ‘the breath’." In Sanskrit, it is used as a reflexive pronoun, equivalent to ‘oneself in English, 'sicH or 'selbst in German, ‘se in French. Regarded as the subject of the life, it means principal of life and sensation. All inclusively, it means individual and body. To distinguish its existence from others, it means ‘self. More philosophically and intrinsically apprehended, it comes to mean ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’.^ The pursuit of the a t ma n is ^ Simon Blackburn, Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 1994; Y Masih, A Critical History of Western Philosophy, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1994, p.viii; H. Nakamura, Universal Thought [Fuhen 5&o], Shunj}msha, Tbkyo, 1999, pp. 449-457, and The Pursuit of Self \Jiko no Tankydi, Seidosha, Tokyo, 1980, pp.llff. ^ Cf D. H. De A Wijesekera, Buddhist and Vedic Studies -A Miscellany, Forward by R.N. Dandekar, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 258. ^ A Sanskrit-English Dictionaryhy Monier Williams, Oxford University Press, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Hilary Putnam on Meaning and Necessity Anders Öberg
    Hilary Putnam on Meaning and Necessity Anders Öberg Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Geijersalen, Human- istiskt Centrum, Engelska parken, Uppsala. Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Abstract Öberg, A. 2011. Hilary Putnam on Meaning and Necessity. Department of Philosophy. 166 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-506-2243-0. In this dissertation on Hilary Putnam's philosophy, I investigate his development regarding meaning and necessity, in particular mathematical necessity. Putnam has been a leading American philosopher since the end of the 1950s, becoming famous in the 1960s within the school of analytic philosophy, associated in particular with the philosophy of science and the philosophy of language. Under the influence of W.V. Quine, Putnam challenged the logical positivism/empiricism that had become strong in America after World War II, with influential exponents such as Rudolf Carnap and Hans Reichenbach. Putnam agreed with Quine that there are no absolute a priori truths. In particular, he was critical of the notion of truth by convention. Instead he developed a notion of relative a priori truth, that is, a notion of neces- sary truth with respect to a body of knowledge, or a conceptual scheme. Putnam's position on necessity has developed over the years and has always been connected to his important con- tributions to the philosophy of meaning. I study Hilary Putnam's development through an early phase of scientific realism, a middle phase of internal realism, and his later position of a natural or commonsense realism.
    [Show full text]
  • Moral Justification Possible on a Quasi-Realist Foundation? Simon Blackburn Published Online: 06 Nov 2010
    This article was downloaded by: [Vienna University Library] On: 29 November 2013, At: 10:22 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ sinq20 Is Objective Moral Justification Possible on a Quasi-realist Foundation? Simon Blackburn Published online: 06 Nov 2010. To cite this article: Simon Blackburn (1999) Is Objective Moral Justification Possible on a Quasi-realist Foundation?, Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, 42:2, 213-227, DOI: 10.1080/002017499321552 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/002017499321552 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.
    [Show full text]
  • An Invitation from Plato: a Philophical Journey to Knowledge
    Mai Oki-Suga An Invitation from Plato: A Philosophical Journey to Knowledge Summary To trace paths to knowledge or to follow the journey searching for knowledge is to some extent equivalent to reading a philosophical book. Plato, who perceives this relation be- tween journey and philosophy, writes his dialogues as if each of his works were a journey to knowledge. This paper inquires into the ascent and descent motif that is the symbolic motion of a philosophical journey and appears in Plato’s Politeia repeatedly. By means of this motif, Plato depicts the journey of the soul in several different ways. This examination will show a possible way to read Plato’s dialogue as a philosophical journey. This journey is undertaken by Plato or the figure Socrates, but at the same time it involves its readers in philosophical inquiries. Keywords: Plato; philosophy; Republic (Politeia); journey of soul; dialogue Das Lesen eines philosophischen Buches kann in einem gewissen Sinne mit einer Weg- beschreitung oder einer Reise zum Wissen gleichgesetzt werden. Platon, der sich dieses Verhältnisses zwischen Reise und Philosophie bewusst war, verfasste seine Dialoge, als ob sie Reisen zum Wissen wären. Diese Abhandlung behandelt das Begriffspaar Aufstieg und Abstieg, das als symbolische Bewegung der philosophischen Reise in Platons Politeia mehr- mals verwendet wird. Mit diesem Motiv stellt Platon die Reise der Seele auf unterschiedli- che Weisen dar. Meine Untersuchung zeigt eine Leseweise, mit der Platons Dialog als phi- losophische Reise verstanden werden kann, die zwar von Platon oder der Figur Sokrates unternommen wird, gleichzeitig jedoch den Leser in die philosophischen Fragestellungen miteinbezieht.
    [Show full text]
  • Max Hayward Dissertation for Deposit.Pages
    ! ! ! Ethics as a Humanistic Inquiry ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Max Hayward ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School! of Arts and Sciences ! ! ! COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY! 2017 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! © 2017 Max Hayward All rights reserved ! ! ABSTRACT Ethics as a Humanistic Inquiry Max Hayward ! ! ! This dissertation argues that ethics is fundamentally mind-dependent. Ethics is invented by humans, to solve the problems that mutually sympathetic agents find in living together. Ethical discovery is the discovery of solutions to the kinds of problems that humans find themselves to face. Views of this kind are familiar, but I attempt to re-orient the debate. Many philosophers see questions about the foundations of ethics as fundamentally theoretical, arguing for one view or another on metaphysical or linguistic grounds. I argue that the question of which metaethical view we adopt is a substantive, first-order moral question. And, contrary to many, I think that first-order considerations speak in favour of a variety of anti-realism. We should reject the search for non- natural, mind-independent, objective moral truths as morally objectionable: it denigrates interpersonal concern, making the significance of moral and practical life dependent upon abstractions remote from what we care about and ought to care about. By contrast, seeing norms of morality and practical rationality as collectively created by processes
    [Show full text]