Synopses & Reviews
In this book, Frederic Schick extends and appliesthe decision theory he proposed in two previous Cambridge books: Understanding Action (1991) and Making Choices (1997). He shows how the way we see situations affects the choices we make, and he develops a logic of thought responsive to how things are seen. The book considers many questions of choosing and some familiar human predicaments. Why do people in choice experiments act so often against expectations? How might they and the experimenters be looking at different problems in them? Why do people cooperate so often where the textbook logic excludes that? How can there be weakness of will - and must it always be faulted? Does how we see things affect what they mean, and what are people reporting who say that their lives have no meaning for them? These very different questions turn out to have some closely related answers. There are vivid discussions here of cases drawn from many sources. The book will interest all who study how we choose and act, whether they are philosophers, psychologists, or economists - or any combination. Frederic Schick is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University.
Synopsis
In his book Frederic Schick develops his challenge to standard decision theory. He argues that talk of the beliefs and desires of an agent is not sufficient to explain choices. To account for a given choice we need to take into consideration how the agent understands the problem, how he sees in a selective way the options open to him. The author applies his new logic to a host of common human predicaments. Why do people in choice experiments act so often against expectations? Why do people cooperate in situations where textbook logic predicts that they won't? What exactly is weakness of will? What are people reporting when they say their lives have no meaning for them? This book questions the foundations of technical and philosophical decision theory and will appeal to all those who work in that field, be they philosophers, economists or psychologists.
Synopsis
In this book Frederic Schick develops his challenge to standard decision theory initiated in two previous Cambridge publications: Understanding Actions (1991) and Making Choices (1997). This book questions the foundations of technical and philosophical decision theory and will appeal to philosophers, economists and psychologists.
Synopsis
In his latest book Frederic Schick develops his challenge to standard decision theory.
Table of Contents
1. Living with ambiguity; 2. A dilemma for whom?; 3. Having, gaining, losing; 4. In support of persuasion; 5. Surprise and self-knowledge; 6. The logic of ambiguity; 7. The meaning of life.