Reasons and Mental States in Decision Theory
Lakatos Building, LAK.206
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom
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Reasons and Mental States in Decision Theory
LSE Choice Group Workshop
June 9th and 10th, 2016
London School of Economics, Lakatos Building, LAK.206
Traditionally, decision theory – especially in economics and the social sciences – has been behaviouristic. Decision theorists have tended to avoid references to a decision-maker’s mental states and to interpret preferences and beliefs merely as formal constructs representing the decision-maker’s observable behaviour. In recent years, however, there has been a psychological turn in decision theory. Many studies – going back to the pioneering works of Herbert Simon, Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky, and others – have shown that, as a positive theory, traditional decision theory does not adequately explain human choice behaviour. This observation, in turn, has motivated a quest for more psychologically informed models of decision-making. Furthermore, the observation that real choice behaviour is more complicated than suggested by classical decision theory raises the question of what the right normative theory of decision-making is. The aim of this workshop is to explore whether, and how, we can make progress in decision theory by modelling a decision-maker’s reasons and/or mental states. The workshop theme will be broadly construed, and the workshop topics will include both positive and normative aspects of decision-making.
Preliminary programme
Thursday, 9th June 2016
14:15 – 15:15 “Welcome and Introduction to the Topic”, Christian List (LSE)
15:30 – 16:30 “Arguments for probabilism”, Anna Mahtani (LSE)
16:45 – 17:45 “Is well-being measurable after all?”, Anna Alexandrova (University of Cambridge)
18:00 – 19:00 “Don't look before you leap”, Arif Ahmed (University of Cambridge)
Friday, 10th June 2016
9:30 – 10:30 TBA, Natalie Gold (King’s College, London)
10:45 – 11:45 “Categorical decision theory”, Marcus Pivato (Université de Cergy-Pontoise)
12:00 – 13:00 “Coarse, efficient decision-making”, Michael Mandler (Royal Holloway, University of London)
14:15 – 15:15 “Psychology of decision-making: Neither harm nor good?”, Magda Osman (Queen Mary, University of London)
15:30 – 16:30 “Reason-based choice”, Franz Dietrich (CNRS / Paris School of Economics)
16:45 – 17:45 “Independent reasons”, Itai Sher (University of California, San Diego)
18:00 – 19:00 “Risk as reason”, Richard Bradley (LSE)
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