PHIL 325 (online)

PHIL 325: Risk, Choice, and Rationality
Instructor: Gillman Payette

Course Description

Why did you decide to come to university? How can you tell whether that was a sensible decision at the time? This course is a philosophical introduction to formal decision theory which means we will survey the prospects and limitations of applying our mathematically precise models of good decision making, aka rational decision theory. The goal is for you to develop your skills at applying these models and understanding when these models are not applicable. We begin by offering a method for analysing the structure of choice situations. The picture that is initially offered will be adapted by adding features which makes the model applicable to more detailed circumstances. We will model utilities, probabilities, and other agents. In each case we will look at the reasons for and against accepting the commonly used accounts for each of those features. Those accounts are: various interpretations of probability theory, the von Neumann--Morgenstern utility theory, and game theory. Once we have a good handle on the theories that focus on individual decision making, we will broaden our view and look at how to make decisions collectively, e.g., voting. While this course will not help you answer the first question at the beginning of this paragraph,  it might help you answer the second and other questions like it.

Course Format

The course will be delivered mostly asynchronously. There will be pre-recorded lectures which are broken into 15 minute segments. The scheduled meeting time (Tuesday 6pm-9pm MT) will be used mainly as a tutorial over zoom where you can ask questions, do practice exercises, and engage in discussion, in that order. Those meetings will be recorded, but attendance and active participation is highly recommended.