Rational Responses to Risks

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Paul Weirich (Curators' Distinguished Professor, Philospohpy Department, Curators' Distinguished Professor, Philospohpy Department, University of Missouri)

Rational Responses to Risks

Paul Weirich (Curators' Distinguished Professor, Philospohpy Department, Curators' Distinguished Professor, Philospohpy Department, University of Missouri)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
04 September 2020

Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology; Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge; Philosophy of mathematics

Good decisions account for risks. For example, the risk of an accident while driving in the rain makes a reasonable driver decide to slow down. While risk is a large topic in theoretical disciplines such as economics and psychology, as well as in practical disciplines such as medicine and finance, philosophy has a unique contribution to make in developing a normative theory of risk that states what risk is, and to what extent our responses to it are rational.

Weirich here develops a philosophical theory of the rationality of responses to risk. He first distinguishes two types of risk: first, a chance of a bad event, and second, an act's risk in relation to its possible outcomes. He argues that this distinction has normative significance in the sense that one's attitudes towards these types of risks - and how one acts on them - are governed by different general principles of rationality. Consequently, a comprehensive account of risk must not only characterize rational responses to risk but also explain why these responses are rational. Weirich explains how, for a rational ideal agent, the expected utilities of the acts available in a decision problem explain the agent's preferences among the acts. As a result, maximizing expected utility is just following preferences among the acts. His view takes an act's expected utility, not just as a feature of a representation of preferences among acts, but also as a factor in the explanation of preferences among acts.

The book's precise formulation of general standards of rationality for attitudes and for acts, and its rigorous argumentation for these standards, make it philosophical; but while mainly of interest to philosophers, its broader arguments will contribute to the conceptual foundations of studies of risk in all disciplines that study it.

By: Paul Weirich (Curators' Distinguished Professor Philospohpy Department Curators' Distinguished Professor Philospohpy Department University of Missouri)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 160mm, Width: 241mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780190089412
ISBN 10: 0190089415
Pages: 282
Publication Date: 04 September 2020
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction Part I Risks and Attitudes to Them 1 Types of Risk 2 Attitudes 3 Rational Attitudes toward Risks Part II Acts Affecting Risks 4 Evaluation of an Act 5 Rational Management of Risks 6 Combinations of Acts Part III Illustrations and Generalizations 7 Return-Risk Evaluation of Investments 8 Advice about Decisions 9 Regulation of Risks 10 Rolling Back Idealizations Conclusion

Paul Weirich works primarily in the areas of decision theory and game theory. He is a Curators' Distinguished Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Missouri and is the author of Equilibrium and Rationality (Cambridge, 1998), Decision Space (Cambridge, 2001), Realistic Decision Theory (Oxford, 2004), Collective Rationality (Oxford, 2010), and Models of Decision-Making (Cambridge, 2015).

Reviews for Rational Responses to Risks

In recent years a growing number of philosophers have started working on normative questions related to what may be called 'pure' attitudes [to] risk.... Paul Weirich's new book constitutes a deep and comprehensive major contribution to this new line of literature. * Ittay Nissan-Rozen, Economics and Philosophy * Organization, indexing, and bibliography are excellent. Most appropriate for scholars who are familiar with the relevant literature but believe coverage of this subject is still wanting. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * S. E. Forschler, CHOICE *