Abstract
A fully adequate solution to Newcomb’s Problem (Nozick 1969) should reveal the source of its extraordinary elusiveness and persistent intractability. Recently, a few accounts have independently sought to meet this criterion of adequacy by exposing the underlying source of the problem’s profound puzzlement. Thus, Sorensen (1987), Slezak (1998), Priest (2002) and Maitzen and Wilson (2003) share the ‘no box’ view according to which the very idea that there is a right choice is misconceived since the problem is ill-formed or incoherent in some way. Among proponents of this view, Richard Jeffrey (2004) recently declared that he renounces his earlier position that accepted Newcomb problems as genuine decision problems. Significantly, Jeffrey suggests that “Newcomb problems are like Escher’s famous staircase on which an unbroken ascent takes you back where you started” (Jeffrey (2004; 113)). Jeffrey’s analogy is apt for a puzzle whose specific logical features can be precisely articulated. Along the lines of these related approaches, I propose to improve and clarify them by providing such a deeper analysis that elucidates their essential, related insights.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allais M. (1953) Le comportement de l’homme rationnel devant le risque. Econometrica 21:503–546
Bar-Hillel Y. (1970). Indexical expressions, in Aspects of Language. The Magnes Press, Jerusalem
Burgess S. (2004). The Newcomb problem: An unqualified resolution. Synthese 138:261–287
Campbell R. (1985). Background for the uninitiated. In: Campbell R., Sowden L. (eds) Paradoxes of Rationality and Cooperation. The University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver
Cottingham J. (eds) (1992). The Cambridge Companion To Descartes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Descartes, R. (1984), The Search for truth in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol. II, Translated by Cottingham, J., Stoothoff, R. and Murdoch, D. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Eells E. (1982) Rational Decision and Causality. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Eells E. (1984), Metatickles and the dynamics of deliberation. Theory and Decision 17:71–95
Ellsberg D. (1961). Risk, ambiguity and the savage axioms. Quarterly Journal of Economics 75:643–669
Freud, S. (1953), Standard Edition of Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. VIII. Strachey J. (ed.), Hogarth Press, London
Gärdenfors P. (1988). Causal decision Theory. In: Gärdenfors P., Sahlin N. (eds) Decision, Probability and Utility. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gibbard A., Harper W.L. (1978) Counterfactuals and two kinds of expected utility, Reprinted in Gärdenfors, P. and Sahlin, N. (eds.), (1988) Decision, Probability and Utility, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gregory R. (1981) Mind in Science: A History of Explanations in Psychology and Physics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gunderson K. (1970) Asymmetries and mind-body perplexities. In: Radner M., Winokur S. (eds) Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol 4. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis
Herzberger H. (1970) Paradoxes of grounding in semantics. Journal of Philosophy 67:145–167
Jeffrey R.C. (1983) The Logic of Decision. 2nd revised edition, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Jeffrey R.C. (2004), Subjective Probability: The Real Thing. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Levi I. (1975) Newcomb’s many problems. Theory and Decision 6:161–175
Levi I. (1982) A note on Newcombmania. The Journal of Philosophy 79(6):337–342
Levi I. (1997) The Covenant of Reason: Rationality and the Commitments of Thought. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Levi I. (2000) Review of James M. Joyce ‘The foundations of causal decision theory’. Journal of Philosophy 97:387–402
Lewis D. (1979) Prisoner’s dilemma is a Newcomb problem. Philosophy & Public Affairs 8(3):235–240
Lewis, D. (1981), Causal decision theory, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 59, 5–30; reprinted in Gärdenfors, P. and Sahlin, N. (eds.), (1988). Decision, Probability and Utility, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Maitzen S., Wilson G. (2003) Newcomb’s hidden regress. Theory and Decision 54:151–162
Markie P. (1992) The cogito and its importance. In: Cottingham J. (eds) The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 140–173
McKay P. (2004) Newcomb’s problem: the causalists get rich. Analysis 64(2):187–89
Nietzsche, F. (1887/1974), The Gay Science, W. Kaufman Trans. Random House, New York.
Nozick R. (1969) Newcomb’s problem and two principles of choice. In: Rescher N. (eds) Essays in Honor of Carl G. Hempel. D. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp 1–1
Nozick R. (1993) The Nature of Rationality. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Priest G. (2002) Rational dilemmas. Analysis 62:11–16
Resnik M. (1987) Choices: An Introduction to Decision Theory. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis
Royce, J. (1900), Supplementary Essay, in The World and the Individual: Gifford Lectures First Series; reprinted 1959, Dover, New York
Schick F. (1979) Self-knowledge, uncertainty, and choice. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 30:235–252
Schmidt J.H. (1998) Newcomb’s paradox realized with backward causation. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 49:67–87
Shafir E. (1995) Uncertainty and the difficulty of thinking through disjunctions. In: Mehler J., Franck S. (eds) Cognition on Cognition. MIT Press, Bradford, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 253–280
Skyrms B. (1982) Causal decision theory. Journal of Philosophy 79(11):695–711
Slezak P. (1983) Descartes’s Diagonal Deduction. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 34:13–36
Slezak P. (1988) Was Descartes a liar? diagonal doubt defended. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 39:379–388
Slezak P. (1998) Rational decision theory: The relevance of Newcomb’s paradox. In: Gernsbacher M.A., Derry S.J. (eds) Proceedings of 20th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 992–996
Slezak P. (2005) Newcomb’s problem as cognitive illusion. In: Bara B.G., Barsalou L., Bucciarelli M. (eds) In Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 2027–2032
Slezak, P. (2006), Realizing Newcomb’s problem, submitted.
Sobel J.H. (1985) Not every prisoner’s dilemma is a Newcomb problem. In: Campbell R., Sowden L. (eds) Paradoxes of Rationality and Cooperation: Prisoner’s Dilemma and Newcomb’s Problem. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp. 263–274
Sorensen R.A. (1987) Anti-expertise, instability, and rational choice. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 65(3):301–315
Sorensen R.A. (1988) Blindspots. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Tversky A., Kahneman D. (1974) Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science 185:1124–1131
Wolf F.A. (1981) Taking the Quantum Leap. Harper & Row, New York
Wright G. (1984) Behavioural Decision Theory: An Introduction. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Slezak, P. Demons, Deceivers And Liars: Newcomb’s Malin Génie . Theor Decis 61, 277–303 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-006-9002-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-006-9002-6