Book
Open Access
Uncertain Values
An Axiomatic Approach to Axiological Uncertainty
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Stefan Riedener
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Funded by:
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2021
About this book
How ought you to evaluate your options if you're uncertain about what's fundamentally valuable? A prominent response is Expected Value Maximisation (EVM)—the view that under axiological uncertainty, an option is better than another if and only if it has the greater expected value across axiologies. But the expected value of an option depends on quantitative probability and value facts, and in particular on value comparisons across axiologies. We need to explain what it is for such facts to hold. Also, EVM is by no means self-evident. We need an argument to defend that it’s true. This book introduces an axiomatic approach to answer these worries. It provides an explication of what EVM means by use of representation theorems: intertheoretic comparisons can be understood in terms of facts about which options are better than which, and mutatis mutandis for intratheoretic comparisons and axiological probabilities. And it provides a systematic argument to the effect that EVM is true: the theory can be vindicated through simple axioms. The result is a formally cogent and philosophically compelling extension of standard decision theory, and original take on the problem of axiological or normative uncertainty.
Author / Editor information
Stefan Riedener, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Topics
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Frontmatter
I -
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Acknowledgments
IX -
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Contents
XI -
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1 The problem of axiological uncertainty
1 -
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2 The basic argument
19 -
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3 Evaluating the argument
38 -
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4 The problem of intertheoretic comparisons
56 -
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5 The problem of probabilities
82 -
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6 The problem of incommensurabilities
113 -
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A Appendix
137 -
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Bibliography
145 -
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Index Rerum
153 -
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Index Nominum
155
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
October 25, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9783110736199
Hardcover published on:
October 25, 2021
Hardcover ISBN:
9783110739572
Paperback published on:
May 8, 2023
Paperback ISBN:
9783111271125
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
12
Main content:
156
Illustrations:
1
Tables:
9
eBook ISBN:
9783110736199
Hardcover ISBN:
9783110739572
Paperback ISBN:
9783111271125
Keywords for this book
Normative uncertainty; intertheoretic comparisons; expected value; representation theorems
Audience(s) for this book
Philosophers, ethicists, economists, libraries, institutes
Creative Commons
BY-NC-ND 4.0
Safety & product resources
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Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
