Abstract
The traditional or “orthodox” decision rule of maximizing conditional expected utility has recently come under attack by critics who advance alternative “causal” decision theories. The traditional theory has, however, been defended. And these defenses have in turn been criticized. Here, I examine two objections to such defenses and advance a theory about the dynamics of deliberation (a diachronic theory about the process of deliberation) within the framework of which both objections to the defenses of the traditional theory fail.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, E. and Rosenkrantz, R.: 1980, ‘Applying the Jeffrey decision model to rational betting and information acquisition’, Theory and Decision 12, 1–20.
Cartwright, N.: 1979, ‘Causal laws and effective strategy’, Nous 13, 419–437.
Eells, E.: 1980, Newcomb's Paradox and the Principle of Maximizing Conditional Expected Utility. Doctoral dissertation, U. C. Berkeley.
Eells, E.: 1981, ‘Causality, Utility, and Decision’, Synthese 48, 295–329.
Eells, E.: 1982, Rational Decision and Causality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England and New York.
Eells, E.: 1984, ‘Newcomb's Many Solutions’, Theory and Decision 16, 59–105.
Eells, E. and Sober, E.: 1984, ‘Probabilistic causality and the question of transitivity’, Philosophy of Science 50, 35–57.
Gibbard, A. and Harper, W.: 1978, ‘Counterfactuals and two kinds of expected utility’, Foundations and Applications of Decision Theory (Edited by C. A. Hooker, J. J. Leach, and E. F. McClennen), Vol. 1, pp. 125–162. D. Reidel, Dordrecht. Reprinted in Ifs (Edited by W. L. Harper, R. Stalnaker, and G. Pearce), pp. 153–190, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, 1981.
Horwich, P.: 1983, ‘Decision theory in the light of Newcomb's problem’, manuscript, MIT.
Jeffrey, R. C.: 1965, The Logic of Decision, McGraw-Hill, New York; 2nd end: University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1983.
Jeffrey, R. C.: 1981, ‘The logic of decision defended’, Synthese 48, 473–492.
Jeffrey, R. C.: 1983, ‘The logic of decision revised’, manuscript, Princeton.
Kyburg, H. E. Jr.: 1974, The Logical Foundations of Statistical Inference, D. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Kyburg, H. E. Jr.: 1980, ‘Acts and conditional probability’, Theory and Decision 12, 149–171.
Levi, I.: 1975, ‘Newcomb's many problems’, Theory and Decision 6, 161–175.
Lewis, D.: 1981, ‘Causal decision theory’, Australasian Journal of Philosophy 59, 5–30.
Skyrms, B.: 1980, Causal Necessity, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Skyrms, B.: 1982, ‘Causal decision theory’, Journal of Philosophy 79, 695–711.
Suppes, P.: 1970, A Probabilistic Theory of Causality, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Eells, E. Metatickles and the dynamics of deliberation. Theor Decis 17, 71–95 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140057
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140057