An argument against causal decision theory

Analysis 81 (1):52-61 (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper develops an argument against causal decision theory. I formulate a principle of preference, which I call the Guaranteed Principle. I argue that the preferences of rational agents satisfy the Guaranteed Principle, that the preferences of agents who embody causal decision theory do not, and hence that causal decision theory is false.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Only CDT values knowledge.Michael Nielsen - 2024 - Analysis 84 (1):67-82.
Why Take Both Boxes?Jack Spencer & Ian Wells - 2019 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 99 (1):27-48.
Newcomb, frustrated.Rhys Borchert & Jack Spencer - 2023 - Analysis 84 (3):449-456.
Success-First Decision Theories.Preston Greene - 2018 - In Arif Ahmed (ed.), Newcomb's Problem. Cambridge University Press. pp. 115–137.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-09-12

Downloads
1,022 (#19,538)

6 months
121 (#41,946)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Jack Spencer
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Citations of this work

Decision, causality, and predetermination.Boris Kment - 2023 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 107 (3):638-670.
Rational monism and rational pluralism.Jack Spencer - 2020 - Philosophical Studies 178 (6):1769-1800.
Causal decision theory.Paul Weirich - 2009 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

View all 11 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

Rationality and Dynamic Choice: Foundational Explorations.Edward Francis McClennen - 1990 - Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Causal decision theory.David Lewis - 1981 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 59 (1):5 – 30.
Evidence, Decision and Causality.Arif Ahmed - 2014 - United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
The Foundations of Causal Decision Theory.Isaac Levi & James M. Joyce - 2000 - Journal of Philosophy 97 (7):387.

View all 24 references / Add more references