Collection
Knowledge and Decision Theory
Decision theory tells us what to do in situations of incomplete information. According to this theory, a rational decision is commonly determined by (a) the values of the action’s possible outcomes and (b) the probabilities that such outcomes occur. The notion of probability plays a prominent role in this theory. One important question philosophers and decision theorists must therefore address is what kind of probabilities should be factored in a decision theory. According to a standard picture, the probabilities in question should express the agent’s degrees of confidence or belief (or perhaps rational degrees of confidence or belief). A less orthodox though increasingly popular view holds instead that the relevant probabilities are a function of the knowledge an agent has at a given time. Such a so-called knowledge-based decision theory has been recently defended by prominent philosophers such as Timothy Williamson, Brian Weatherson, and Sarah Moss, but has also been challenged by others.
The debate over knowledge-first decision theory has far-ranging implications for a number of disputes in epistemology, theory of action and rationality, moral philosophy and the philosophy of law. It is related to deep philosophical questions such as when a decision is grounded on sufficiently solid grounds, and what kinds of attitudes we should focus on when it comes to assess the rationality of an action and the responsibility of an agent.
The aim of this topical collection is to bring philosophers interested in topics at the intersection of epistemology and decision theory to address the following (and related) questions:
- What are the prospects for a knowledge-based decision theory? - What advantages and disadvantages does a knowledge-based decision theory have compared to other types of decision theory? - What roles does knowledge play in relation to rational action and decision-making? And what advantages does it offer compared to other attitudes such as justified true beliefs? - What further philosophical applications could a knowledge-based decision theory have?
Editors
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Jie Gao
https://jiegaophil.weebly.com/
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Davide Fassio
https://sites.google.com/site/davidefassio/home
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Daniel Waxman
