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Rational risk‐aversion: Good things come to those who weight.

Authors :
Bottomley, Christopher
Williamson, Timothy Luke
Source :
Philosophy & Phenomenological Research. May2024, Vol. 108 Issue 3, p697-725. 29p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

No existing normative decision theory adequately handles risk. Expected Utility Theory is overly restrictive in prohibiting a range of reasonable preferences. And theories designed to accommodate such preferences (for example, Buchak's (2013) Risk‐Weighted Expected Utility Theory) violate the Betweenness axiom, which requires that you are indifferent to randomizing over two options between which you are already indifferent. Betweenness has been overlooked by philosophers, and we argue that it is a compelling normative constraint. Furthermore, neither Expected nor Risk‐Weighted Expected Utility Theory allow for stakes‐sensitive risk‐attitudes—they require that risk matters in the same way whether you are gambling for loose change or millions of dollars. We provide a novel normative interpretation of Weighted‐Linear Utility Theory that solves all of these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00318205
Volume :
108
Issue :
3
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Philosophy & Phenomenological Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
177219999
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.13006