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Rational Decision and Causality

Rational Decision and Causality

Rational Decision and Causality

August 2016
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Adobe eBook Reader
9781316560464

    First published in 1982, Ellery Eells' original work on rational decision making had extensive implications for probability theorists, economists, statisticians and psychologists concerned with decision making and the employment of Bayesian principles. His analysis of the philosophical and psychological significance of Bayesian decision theories, causal decision theories and Newcomb's paradox continues to be influential in philosophy of science. His book is now revived for a new generation of readers and presented in a fresh twenty-first-century series livery, including a specially commissioned preface written by Brian Skyrms, illuminating its continuing importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry.

    • Unique to Cambridge, this classic book has been revived and rebranded for a twenty-first-century readership
    • Analyses the philosophical and psychological significance of rational decision theories
    • Of interest to a range of readers, including probability theorists, economists, statisticians and psychologists
    • Features a specially commissioned preface written by Brian Skyrms

    Product details

    August 2016
    Adobe eBook Reader
    9781316560464
    0 pages
    0kg
    7 b/w illus. 14 tables
    This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.

    Table of Contents

    • Preface to this edition Brian Skyrms
    • Introduction
    • 1. Bayesianism
    • 2. The philosophical and psychological significance of Bayesian decision theory
    • 3. Bayesian decision theories: some details
    • 4. The counterexamples
    • 5. Causal decision theories
    • 6. Common causes, reasons and symptotic acts
    • 7. A general defence of PMCEU
    • 8. Newcomb's paradox
    • Appendices
    • Bibliography
    • Index.
      Contributors
    • Brian Skyrms

    • Author
    • Ellery Eells

      Professor Ellery Eells (1953–2006) was a leading philosopher of science, best known for his probabilistic theories of causation and his decision theory. He authored and edited several books, including Probability and Conditionals: Belief Revision and Rational Decision (with Brian Skyrms, Cambridge, 1994) and Probabilistic Causality (Cambridge, 1991).