Conditional choice with a vacuous second tier

Rush T. Stewart

pp. 219-243

in: Synthese 193 (1), 2016.

Abstract

This paper studies a generalization of rational choice theory. I briefly review the motivations that Helzner gives for his conditional choice construction (2013). Then, I focus on the important class of conditional choice functions with vacuous second tiers. This class is interesting for both formal and philosophical reasons. I argue that this class makes explicit one of conditional choice’s normative motivations in terms of an account of neutrality advocated within a certain tradition in decision theory. The observations recorded—several of which are generalizations of central results in the standard theory of rational choice—are intended to provide further insight into how conditional choice generalizes the standard account and are offered as additional evidence of the fruitfulness of the conditional choice framework.