Decision & Game Theory: internal consistency of choice, individuation of objects of preference, folk psychology, instrumental rationality
Philosophy of Economics: rational choice, rational desire, sensitive modelling, economic methodology
Applied Ethics: business ethics, strategic choice, cooperation ethics, computer & information ethics
Decision theory (DT) aims at explaining and predicting rational choices. But ample empirical evidence suggests that descriptively, people’s actual choices do not conform to its predictions in various ways. Some of the counter-evidence, such as cases proposed by Amartya Sen, challenges even the normative adequacy of DT. My dissertation defends DT as a normative theory while also offering a novel explanation of why DT fails descriptively. Contrary to the Sen-style critique, I argue that DT is unimpeachable as a logic of choice. Human decisions do not range over the kinds of objects that philosophers and economists normally assume that they range over. Instead, they range over much finer grained outcomes, what I call “holistic outcomes.” A holistic outcome reflects everything that affects a decision, including the full range of one’s values and the particularities of a choice context. Appreciating that decisions are made over holistic possibilities has important consequences for how we understand DT both as a normative and descriptive theory. My dissertation aims at establishing that human decisions range over holistic outcomes and then tracing out the consequences of this insight.
Decision Theory: a Norm of Choice, Institute for Humane Studies Graduate Student Research Colloquium, Arlington, VA. George Mason University. 2017
Decision Theory and Risk Attitudes, The Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable, Vancouver, BC, CA. University of British Columbia. 2017
A Defense of Decision Theory,
The 2017 Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society Meeting, New Orleans, LA. 2017
The 2016 Western Michigan University Graduate Philosophy Conference, Kalamazoo, MI. Western Michigan University. 2016
Problem of the Context-Independence of Choices, The 2015 Southeastern Graduate Philosophy Conference, Gainesville, FL. University of Florida. 2015
Collective Intention, Speech Acts and Social Deontology,
The 47th Meeting of the North Texas Philosophical Association, Denton, TX. University of North Texas. 2014
The 59th Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association (FPA), DeLand, FL. 2013
“Decision Theory: a Norm of Choice”
“Interpreting Decision Theory as a Normative, Realist and Holistic Account”
“Wax Tablet and the Aviary Analogies in the Theaetetus: Knowledge as True Belief”
“Collective Intention, Speech Acts and Social Deontology”
“Decision Theory and Risk Attitudes”
“Adequacy of Game Theory as a Norm of Strategic Decision Making”
“Rational Choice, Consequentialism, and Value-Neutrality”