Abstract
There are, it can be argued, two dominant approaches to rational choice extensively used in decision theory and economics:
-
(1)
Internal consistency: Rational choice is seen, in this approach, simply in terms of internal consistency of choice.
-
(2)
Self-interest pursuit: The rationality of choice is identified here with the unfailing pursult of self-interest.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akerlof, G.: 1983, “Loyalty Filters”, American Economic Review 73.
Allais, M.: 1953, “Le Comportement de l’Homme Rational devant le Risque: Critique des Postulates et Axiomes de l’Ecole Amèricaine”, Econometrica 21.
Allais, M., and O. Hagen (eds.): 1979, Expected Utility Hypotheses and the Allais Paradox: Contemporary Discussion of Decisions under Uncertainty with Allais’ Rejoinder, D. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Arrow, K.J.: 1951a, Social Choice and Individual Values, 2nd edition (1963) Wiley, New York.
Arrow, K.J.: 1951b, “An Extension of the Basic Theorems of Welfare Economics”, in J. Neymann, ed., Proceedings of the 2nd Berkeley Symposium of Mathematical Statistics, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Arrow, K.J.: 1959, “Rational Choice Functions and Orderings”, Economica 26.
Arrow, K.J.: 1970, Essays in the Theory of Risk-Bearing, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Arrow, K.J.: 1982, “Risk Perception in Psychology and Economics”, Economic Inquiry 20.
Arrow, K.J.: 1983, “Behaviour under Uncertainty and Its Implications for Policy”, in Stigum and Wenstφp (eds.), 1983.
Arrow, K.J., and F.H. Hahn: 1971, General Competitive Analysis, Holden-day, San Francisco, republished (1979) North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Bell, D.E.: 1982, “Regret in Decision Making under Uncertainty”, Operations Research 30.
Borch, K., and J. Mossin: 1968, Risk and Uncertainty, Macmillan, London.
Broome, J.: 1984, “Uncertainty and Fairness”, Economic Journal 94.
Campbell, D.E.: 1976, “Democratic Preference Functions”, Journal of Economic Theory 12.
Chipman, J.S., L. Hurwicz, M.K. Richter, and H.F. Sonneschein (eds.): Preference, Utility and Demand, Harcourt, New York.
Cohen, J.: 1982, “Are People Programmed to Commit Fallacies? Further Thoughts about Interpretation of Experimental Data on Probability Judgment”, Journal of the Theory of Social Behaviour.
Davidson, D., P. Suppes, and S. Siegel: 1957, Decision Making: An Experimental Approach, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Debreu, G.: 1959, A Theory of Value, Wiley, New York.
Diamond, P: 1967, “Cardinal Welfare, Individualistic Ethics, and Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility: A Comment”, Journal of Political Economy, 75.
Drèze, J.H.: 1974, “Axiomatic Theories of Choice, Cardinal Utility and Subjective Probability: A Review”, in J.H. Drèze (ed.), Allocation under Uncertainty: Equilibrium and Optimality, Macmillan, London.
Edwards, W., and A. Tversky (eds.): 1967, Decision Making Penguin Books, Harmondsworth.
Elster, J.: 1978, Logic and Society, Wiley, New York.
Fishburn, P.C.: 1973, The Theory o f Social Choice, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Fishburn, P.C.: 1981, “Subjective Expected Utility: A Review of Normative Theories”, Theory and Decision, 13.
Gärdenfors, P., and N.E. Sahlin: 1982, “Unreliable Probabilities, Risk Taking and Decision Making”, Synthese 53.
Hammond, P.J.: 1976, “Changing Tastes and Coherent Dynamic Choice”, Review of Economic Studies 43.
Hammond, P.J.: 1982, “Consequentialism and Rationality in Dynamic Choice under Uncertainty”, Technical Report 387, Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford University.
Harsanyi, J.C.: 1966, “A General Theory of Rational Behaviour in Game Situations”, Econometrica 34.
Harsanyi, J.C.: 1977, Rational Behaviour and Bargaining Equilibrium in Games and Social Situations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Herzberger, H.G.: 1973, “Ordinal Preference and Rational Choice”, Econometrica 41.
Hirschman, A.O.: 1977, The Passions and the Interest, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Hirschman, A.O.: 1982, Shifting Involvements, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Jeffrey, R.C.: 1965, The Logic of Decision, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2nd edition (1983), University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kahneman, D., and A. Tversky: 1979, “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk”, Econometrica 47.
Kahneman, D., P. Slovik, and A. Tversky: 1983, Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Kanger, S: 1976, “Choice Based on Preference”, mimeographed, Uppsala University.
Keeney, R.L., and H. Raiffa: 1976, Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Tradeoffs, Wiley, New York.
Levi, I.: 1974, “On Indeterminate Probabilities”, Journal of Philosophy 71.
Levi, I.: 1982, “Ignorance, Probability and Rational Choice”, Synthese 53.
Loomes, G., and R. Sudgen: 1982, “Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice under Uncertainty”, Economic Journal 92.
Luce, R.D., and H. Raiffa: 1957, Games and Decisions, Wiley, New York.
MacCrimmon, K.R.: 1968, “Descriptive and Normative Implications of Decision Theory Postulates”, in K. Borch and J. Mossin, 1968.
Machina, M.: 1981, “Rational’ Decision Making vs. ‘Rational’ Decision Modelling?”, Journal of Mathematical Psychology 24.
Machina, M.:1982, “‘Expected Utility’ Analysis without the Independence Axiom”, Econometrica 50.
Machina, M.: 1983, “Generalized Expected Utility Analysis and the Nature of Observed Violations of the Independence Axiom”, in B. Stigum and F. Wenstϕp (eds.) 1983.
McClennen, E.F.: 1983, “Sure-Thing Doubts”, in B. Stigum and F. Wenstϕpp (eds.), 1983.
Margolis, H.: 1982, Selfishness, Altruism and Rationality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Nagel, T.: 1970, The Possibility of Altruism, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Nagel, T.: 1980, “The Limits of Objectivity”, in S. McMurrin (ed.), Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Parfit, D.: 1984, Reasons and Persons, Cladendon Press, Oxford.
Plott, C: 1973, “Path Independence, Rationality and Social Choice”, Econometrica 41.
Raiffa, H.: 1968, Decision Analysis, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.
Ramsey, F.P.: 1931, “Truth and Probability”, in F.P. Ramsey, The Foundations of Mathematics and other Logical Essays, Kegan Paul, London.
Richter, M.K.: 1971, “Rational Choice”, in Chipman, Hurwicz, Richter and Sonneschein (eds.). 1971.
Savage, L.J.: 1954, The Foundations of Statistics, Wiley, New York.
Samuelson, P.: 1947, The Foundations of Economic Analysis, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Schelling, T.C.: 1984, “Self-Command in Practice, in Policy, and in a Theory of Rational Choice”, American Economic Review 74, Papers and Proceedings.
Schick, F.: 1984, Having Reasons: An Essay on Rationality and Sociality, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Schwartz, T: 1972, “Rationality and the Myth of the Maximum”, Nous 7.
Sen, A.K.: 1970a, Collective Choice and Social Welfare, San Francisco, Holden-Day, republished by North-Holland (1979) Amsterdam.
Sen, A.K.: 1970b, “Interpersonal Aggregation and Partial Comparability”, Econometrica, 38; 972 “A Correction”, Econometrica
Sen, A.K.: 1971, “Choice Functions and Revealed Preference”, Review of Economic Studies 38.
Sen, A.K.: 1972, “Behaviour and the Concept of Preference”, Economica 40.
Sen, A.K.: 1977a, “Social Choice Theory: A Re-examination”, Econometrica 45.
Sen, A.K.: 1977b, “Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioural Foundations of Economic Theory”, Philosophy and Public Affairs 6.
Sen, A.K.: 1979, “Utilitarianism and Welfarism”, Journal of Philosophy 76.
Sen, A.K.: 1982a, Choice, Welfare and Measurement, Blackwell, Oxford, and Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Sen, A.K.: 1982b, “Rights and Agency”, Philosophy and Public Affairs 11.
Sen, A.K.: 1983, “Evaluator Relativity and Consequential Evaluation”, Philosophy and Public Affairs 12.
Sen, A.K.: 1984a, Resources, Values and Development, Blackwell, Oxford: Blackwell and Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Sen, A.K.: 1984b, “Rationality, Interest and Identity”, written for a festschrift for A.O. Hirschman.
Simon, H.A.: 1957, Models of Man, Wiley, New York.
Sugden, R: 1985, “Why Be Consistent? A Critical Analysis of Consistency Requirements in Choice Theory”, Economica 52.
Suzumura, K.: 1976, “Rational Choice and Revealed Preference”, Review of Economic Studies 43.
Suzumura, K.: 1983, Rational Choice, Collective Decisions and Social Welfare, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Stigum, B.P., and F. Wenstcpp (eds.): 1983, Foundations of Utility and Risk Theory with Applications, Reidel, Dordrecht.
Tversky, A.: 1975, “A Critique of Expected Utility Theory: Descriptive and Normative Considerations”, Erkenntnis 9.
Tversky, A., and D, Kahneman: 1974, “Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases”, Science 185.
von Neumann, J., and O, Morgenstern: 1947, Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
William, B.: 1973, “A Critique of Utilitarianism”, in J. Smart and B. Williams, Utilitarianism: For and Against, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Williams, B.: 1982, Moral Luck, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sen, A. (1986). Rationality and Uncertainty. In: Daboni, L., Montesano, A., Lines, M. (eds) Recent Developments in the Foundations of Utility and Risk Theory. Theory and Decision Library, vol 47. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4616-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4616-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8551-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4616-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive