Speaker
Ryan Doody
Affiliation
Brown University
Details
Event Description
Ryan Doody (Brown University) presents:
“DICE EX MACHINA”
Abstract:
A familiar way of deciding between indifferent options is to use a randomizing device (like the toss of a coin, or the roll of a die) to aid in the selection. The central aim of this paper is to demonstrate that such behavior is actually deeply puzzling. I argue that tossing a coin is in tension with a number of frameworks for rational choice. I then develop a solution to the puzzle, which posits that tossing a coin allows us to express our indifference between the options, and that we sometimes have good reasons—reasons regarding self- and other- understanding—to want to express such things.
PWNP
Monday, November 7
5:30-7:00 pm
Wooten 301