Self-Control, Decision Theory, and Rationality

282 Pages·2018·13.883 MB·English

by  José Luis Bermúdez

SELF-CONTROL, DECISION THEORY,
AND RATIONALITY
Thinkingaboutself-controltakesustotheheartofpracticaldecision
making, human agency, motivation, and rational choice.
Psychologists, philosophers, and decision theorists have all brought
valuable insights and perspectives on how to model self-control, on
different mechanisms for achieving and strengthening self-control,
and on how self-control fits into the overall cognitive and affective
economy. Yet these different literatures have remained relatively
insulated from each other. Self-Control, Decision Theory, and
Rationality brings them into dialog by focusing on the theme of
rationality.Itcontainselevennewlywrittenessaysbyadistinguished
groupofphilosophers,psychologists,anddecisiontheorists,together
with a substantial introduction, collectively offering state-of-the-art
perspectives on the rationality of self-control and the different
mechanismsforachievingit.
jose´ luis bermu´dez isProfessorofPhilosophyandSamuelRhea
GammonProfessorofLiberalArtsatTexasA&MUniversity.

SELF-CONTROL, DECISION
THEORY, AND
RATIONALITY
New Essays
edited by
JOSÉ LUIS BERMÚDEZ
TexasA&MUniversity
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doi:10.1017/9781108329170
©JoséLuisBermúdez2018
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title:Self-control,decisiontheory,andrationality:newessays/editedby
JoseLuisBermudez,TexasA&MUniversity.
description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY:
CambridgeUniversityPress,2018.
identifiers:lccn2018027623|isbn9781108420099
subjects:lcsh:Self-control–Philosophy.|Decisionmaking–Philosophy.
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Contents
ListofFigures pagevii
ListofTables ix
ListofContributors x
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction 1
JoséLuisBermúdez
1 TemptationandPreference-BasedInstrumentalRationality 27
JohannaThoma
2 Self-PredictionandSelf-Control 48
MartinPetersonandPeterVallentyne
3 RationalPlans 72
PaulWeirich
4 Self-ControlandHyperbolicDiscounting 96
ArifAhmed
5 PreferenceReversals,DelayDiscounting,RationalChoice,
andtheBrain 121
LeonardGreenandJoelMyerson
6 InWhatSenseAreAddictsIrrational? 147
HowardRachlin
7 WhyTemptation? 167
ChrisoulaAndreou
8 Frames,Rationality,andSelf-Control 179
JoséLuisBermúdez
v
vi contents
9 ExercisingSelf-Control:AnApparentProblemResolved 204
AlfredR.Mele
10 PuttingWillpowerintoDecisionTheory:ThePerson
AsaTeamOverTimeandIntrapersonalTeamReasoning 218
NatalieGold
11 TheManyWaystoAchieveDiachronicUnity 240
KennyEaswaranandReubenStern
Index 264
Figures
I.1 Theparadigmcaseofself-controlrepresentedasasequential page8
choiceproblem.
1.1 Temptationproblem 30
1.2 Intertemporalprisoner’sdilemma 34
2.1 Chocolate:deterministiccase 51
2.2 Chocolate:probabilisticcase 59
2.3 Allegedfailureofdominance 65
2.4 Allegeddynamicinconsistency 67
3.1 Adecisiontreeforasequenceoftwochoices 76
3.2 Asequentialprisoner’sdilemma 79
3.3 AsequentialversionofAllais’paradox 83
3.4 Asequenceofoffers 91
3.5 Satan’sapple 93
5.1 Thesubjectivevalueofadelayed$10,000rewardplottedas 126
afunctionofthetimeuntilitsreceipt
5.2 Therelativesubjectivevalueofadelayedrewardplottedas 127
afunctionoftimeuntilitsreceipt
5.3 Discountingofdelayedgains(top),delayedlosses(center), 129
andprobabilisticgains(bottom)byalcohol-dependent
AfricanAmericansandcontrolindividualsmatched
onage,gender,andeducation
5.4 Subjectivevalueofarewardasafunctionofdelayto 131
itsreceipt
5.5 PercentchoiceofthemoreprobablerewardbyK.C. 136
oneachoftwotestingsessionsandbycontrolparticipants
5.6 Subjectivevalueasafunctionofdelay(left)andodds 137
against(right)forK.C.,D.A.,andtheircontrols
6.1 Generaloutlinesofaneurocognitivetheory(right)anda 148
behavioral-economictheory(left)
vii
viii list of figures
6.2 ContingenciesoftheKudadjie-GyamfiandRachlin(1996) 162
experiment
6.3 ResultsoftheKudadjie-GyamfiandRachlin(1996)experiment 163
8.1 Thestandardrisky-choiceframingparadigm 181
8.2 Theeffectofframingonattitudestowardrisk 181
8.3 TheS-shapedcurveofprospecttheoryintendedto 182
representthevaluefunctionofatypicalindividual
8.4 Illustrationofhowhyperbolicdiscountingcannecessitate 186
theexerciseofself-controlattimet2
8.5 Theparadigmcaseofself-controlrepresentedasa 187
sequentialchoiceproblem
8.6 Theframingmodelappliedtotheparadigmcase 195
ofself-control
11.1 Sampleutilitycurves 247