Abstract
Libertarians claim that human behaviour is undetermined and cannot be predicted from knowledge of past history even in principle since it is based on the random movements of quantum mechanics. Determinists on the other hand deny thatmacroscopic phenomena can be activated bysub-microscopic events, and assert that if human action is unpredictable in the way claimed by libertarians, it must be aimless and irrational. This is not true of some types of random behaviour described in this paper. Random behaviour may make one unpredictable to opponents and may therefore be rational. Similarly, playing a game with a mixed strategy may have an unpredictable outcome in every single play, but the strategy is rational, in that it is meant to maximize the expected value of an objective, be it private or social. As to whether the outcome of such behaviour is genuinely unpredictable as in quantum mechanics, or predictable by a hypothetical outside observer knowing all natural laws, it is argued that it makes no difference in practice, as long as it is not humanly predictable. Thus we have a new version of libertarianism which is compatible with determinism.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, R. G. D.; 1959Mathematical Economics, 2nd ed., MacMillan, London.
Binmore, K. 1988 ‘Modeling rational players: Part II’,Economics and Philosophy, vol.4, pp. 9–55.
Diamond, P. A.; 1967 ‘Cardinal Welfare, Individualistic Ethics and Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility: Comment’,Journal of Political Economy 75, 765–6.
Etzioni, A.; 1986 ‘The Case for a Multiple-Utility Conception’,Economics and Philosophy 2, 158–183.
Harsanyi, J. C.; (1977) ‘Rule Utilitarianism and Decision Theory’,Erkenntnis 11, 25–53.
Harsanyi, J. C.; 1991 ‘Equality, Responsibility and Justice as Seen from a Utilitarian Perspective’,Theory and Decision,31, 141–158.
Hey, J. D.; ed. 1989Current Issues in Microeconomics, MacMillan, London.
Holland, J.; 1955Bird Spotting, Blandford Press, Poole, England.
Honderich, T.; 1988A Theory of Determinism: the Mind, Neuroscience and Life-Hopes, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Kendall, M. G. and A. Stuart; 1958The Advanced Theory of Statistics,1, Charles Griffith, London.
Kreps, D. M.; 1990aA Course in Microeconomic Theory, Harvester Wheatsheaf, New York.
Kreps, D. M.; 1990bGame Theory and Economic Modelling, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
May, D.; 1993 ‘Saharan Dandy Shakes his Tail’,The Times, 8th May, Weekend, p. 3.
Moreh, J.; 1986 ‘Morality and Welfare’,Theory and Decision,21, 209–230.
Moreh, J.; 1992 ‘Economic Analysis, Common-Sense Morality and Utilitarianism’,Erkenntnis,37, 115–143.
Nagel, T.; 1979 ‘Moral Luck’, pp. 24–38 inMortal Questions, Cambridge University Press, reprinted as pp. 174–186 in G. Watson (ed.)Free Will, Oxford University Press, 1982.
Popper, K. R.; 1956, 1982The Open Universe, Cambridge University Press.
Popper, K. R.; 1966The Open Society and Its Enemies, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Popper, K. R. and J. Eccles; 1977The Self and Its Brain, Springer International, Berlin.
Rasmusen, E.; 1989Games and Information, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Rawls, J.; 1971A theory of Justice, Oxford University Press, London.
Schelling, T. C.; 1960The Strategy of Conflict, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Sen, A. K.; 1977 ‘Rational Fools:; a Critique of the Behavioural Foundations of Economic Theory’,Philosophy and Public Affairs,6, 317–344, reprinted in Sen,Choice, Welfare and Measurement, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1982.
Shubik, M.; 1983Game Theory in the Social Sciences, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Ma.
Slote, M.; 1985Common-Sense Morality and Consequentialism, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Smart, J. J. C.; 1973An Outline of a System of Utilitarian Ethics, in Smart and Williams,Utilitarianism — for and against, Cambridge University Press.
van Inwagen, P.; 1983An Essay on Free Will, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Weatherford, R.; 1991The Implications of Determinism, Routledge, London.
Zimmerman, H.-J.; 1991Fuzzy Set Theory and its Applications, 2nd ed., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moreh, J. Randomness, game theory and free will. Erkenntnis 41, 49–64 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01128910
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01128910