Abstract
In this paper, conditions are given under which decision matrices yield the kind of expected utility proposed by Stalnaker (1972). This is the kind of expected utility that Harper and I (1978) called U-utility; in this paper I call it instrumental expected utility.
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Michigan, and I am grateful for the helpful discussion on both occasions.
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References
Gibbard, Allan and Harper, William L. (1981). “Counterfactuals and Two Kinds of Expected Utility”, in Hooker, Leach, and McClennen (eds.), Foundations and Applications of Decision Theory, Vol. I (Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel), 125–162. Also in Harper, Stalnaker, and Pearce (1981).
Gibbard, Allan, (1984). “Decision Matrices and Instrumental Expected Utility”, full version of paper presented to the Second International Congress on Foundations of Utility and Risk Theory, Venice, June 1984.
Harman, Gilbert H. (1967). “Toward a Theory of Intrinsic Value”, Journal of Philosophy 64, 792–804.
Harper, W.L., Stalnaker, R., and Pearce, G. (1981). Ifs: Conditionals, Belief, Decision, Chance, and Time (Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel).
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Stalnaker, Robert (1972). Letter to David Lewis, exerpted in Harper, Stalnaker, and Pearce (1981).
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© 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Gibbard, A. (1986). A Characterization of Decision Matrices that Yield Instrumental Expected Utility. 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_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4616-3_8
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