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The value of risk in transformative experience
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dc.contributor.author | Randell, Petronella R. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-11-15T12:30:09Z | |
dc.date.available | 2023-11-15T12:30:09Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2023-11-13 | |
dc.identifier | 294668112 | |
dc.identifier | 5d997b05-0286-4dc9-991f-ed0fbd4c7efc | |
dc.identifier | 85177190672 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Randell , P R 2023 , ' The value of risk in transformative experience ' , Episteme , vol. FirstView . https://doi.org/10.1017/epi.2023.53 | en |
dc.identifier.issn | 1742-3600 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10023/28711 | |
dc.description.abstract | Risk is inherent to many, if not all, transformative decisions. The risk of regret, of turning into a person you presently consider to be morally objectionable, or of value change are all risks of choosing to transform. This aspect of transformative decision-making has thus far been ignored, but carries important consequences to those wishing to defend decision theory from the challenge posed by transformative decision-making. I contend that a problem lies in a common method used to cardinalise utilities – the von Neumann and Morgenstern (vNM) method – which measures an agent's utility function over sure outcomes. I argue that the risks involved in transformative experiences are constitutively valuable, and hence their value cannot be accurately measured by the vNM method. In Section 1, I outline what transformative experiences are and the problem they pose to decision theory. In Section 2, I outline Pettigrew's (2019, Choosing for Changing Selves) decision-theoretic response, and in Section 3, I present the case for thinking that risks can carry value. In Section 4, I argue for the claim that at least some transformative experiences involve constitutive risk. I argue that this causes a problem for decision-theoretic responses within the vNM framework in Section 5. | |
dc.format.extent | 13 | |
dc.format.extent | 177800 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Episteme | en |
dc.subject | Decision theory | en |
dc.subject | Rationality | en |
dc.subject | Risk | en |
dc.subject | Transformative experiences | en |
dc.subject | Utility cardinalisation | en |
dc.subject | B Philosophy (General) | en |
dc.subject | T-NDAS | en |
dc.subject.lcc | B1 | en |
dc.title | The value of risk in transformative experience | en |
dc.type | Journal article | en |
dc.contributor.institution | University of St Andrews. Philosophy | en |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1017/epi.2023.53 | |
dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
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