Luc Bovens
Biographic Data
| ID | 1006134 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Luc Bovens |
| GIVEN NAMES | Luc |
| FAMILY NAME | Bovens |
| SIGNATURE | BOVENS L |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3937-1373 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 100 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
The ethics of boost
The Reflection Principle and the Ex-Ante Pareto Principle in Anna Mahtani’s Objects of Credence
First, Mahtani argues that both in the game The Mug and in the Sleeping Beauty we should not defer to a trusted person under a particular designation if they do not self-identify under this designation. This invites a more complex Reflection Principle. I respond that there are more parsimonious ways to avoid the challenges posed to the Reflection Principle. Second, Mahtani argues that preferences create a hyperintensional context, which poses a c…
The gender-neutral bathroom: A new frame and some nudges
Gender-neutral bathrooms are usually framed as an accommodation for trans and other gender-nonconforming individuals. In this paper, we show that the benefits of gender-neutral bathrooms are much broader. First, our simulations show that gender-neutral bathrooms reduce average waiting times: while waiting times for women go down invariably, waiting times for men either go down or slightly increase depending on usage intensity, occupancy-time diff…
The Ethics of Making Risky Decisions for Others
Utilitarianism, it has been said, is not sensitive to the distribution of welfare. In making risky decisions for others there are multiple sensitivities at work. I present examples of risky decision-making involving drug allocations, charitable giving, breast-cancer screening and Caesarian sections. In each of these examples there is a different sensitivity at work that pulls away from the utilitarian prescription. Instances of saving fewer peopl…
From Each according to Ability; To Each according to Needs
There are three slogans in the history of socialism that are very close in wording, namely, the famous Cabet-Blanc-Marx slogan: From each according to his ability; To each according to his needs; the earlier Saint-Simon–Pecqueur slogan: To each according to his ability; To each according to his works; and the later slogan in Stalin’s 1936 Soviet Constitution: From each according to his ability; To each according to his work. We trace the earliest…
Behavioural public policies and charitable giving
Some of the challenges in Sanders et al. (2018, this issue) can be aptly illustrated by means of charity nudges; that is, nudges designed to increase charitable donations. These nudges raise many ethical questions. First, Oxfam's triptychs with suggested donations are designed to increase giving. If successful, do our actions match ex ante or ex post preferences? Does this make a difference to the autonomy of the donor? Second, the Behavioural In…
The Prisoner's Dilemma
The Prisoner's Dilemma is one of the most fiercely debated thought experiments in philosophy and the social sciences, presenting the simple insight that when two or more agents interact, the actions that most benefit each individual may not benefit the group. The fact that when you do what is best for you, and I do what is best for me, we end up in a situation that is worse for both of us makes the Prisoner's Dilemma relevant to a broad range of …
Minimizing the threat of a positive majority deficit in two-tier voting systems with equipopulous units
Measuring common standards and equal responsibility-sharing in EU asylum outcome data
We construct novel measures to assess (i) the extent to which European Union member states are using common standards in recognizing asylum seekers and (ii) the extent to which the responsibilities for asylum applications, acceptances and refugee populations are equally shared among the member states, taking into account population size, gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP expressed in purchasing power parity (GDP-PPP). We track the progression …
Measuring voting power for dependent voters through causal models
The puzzle of the hats
The Ethics of Nudge
Nancy Cartwright's Philosophy of Science
A power measure analysis of Amendment 36 in Colorado
Special issue of Synthese on Bayesian Epistemology
Democratic Answers to Complex Questions – An Epistemic Perspective
A Utilitarian Assessment of Alternative Decision Rules in the Council of Ministers
We develop a utilitarian framework to assess different decision rules for the European Council of Ministers. The proposals to be decided on are conceptualized as utility vectors and a probability distribution is assumed over the utilities. We first show what decision rules yield the highest expected utilities for different means of the probability distribution. For proposals with high mean utility, simple benchmark rules (such as majority voting …
Too Odd (Not) to Be True? A Reply to Olsson
In ‘Corroborating Testimony, Probability and Surprise’, Erik J. Olsson ascribes to L. Jonathan Cohen the claims that if two witnesses provide us with the same information, then the less probable the information is, the more confident we may be that the information is true (C), and the stronger the information is corroborated (C*). We question whether Cohen intends anything like claims (C) and (C*). Furthermore, he discusses the concurrence of wit…
Bayesian Networks and the Problem of Unreliable Instruments
We appeal to the theory of Bayesian Networks to model different strategies for obtaining confirmation for a hypothesis from experimental test results provided by less than fully reliable instruments. In particular, we consider (i) repeated measurements of a single test consequence of the hypothesis, (ii) measurements of multiple test consequences of the hypothesis, (iii) theoretical support for the reliability of the instrument, and (iv) calibrat…
Authenticity in Kurosawa
The Value of Hope
Hope obeys Aristotle's doctrine of the mean: one should neither hope too much, nor too little. But what determines what constitutes too much and what constitutes too little for a particular person at a particular time? The sceptic presents an argument to the effect that it is never rational to hope. An attempt to answer the sceptic leads us in different directions. Decision-theoretic and preference-theoretic arguments support the instrumental val…
Moral Luck, Photojournalism, and Pornography
The Intentional Acquisition of Mental States
For various reasons a person may wish to have mental states other than the ones she actually has. Let us consider a few examples. I may wish to have more of a taste for dry wines, since my wine-connoisseur friends serve only dry wines at their parties. Or, I may wish to believe that my spouse is not having an affair, though all the evidence suggests that she is. Or, suppose I strongly disapprove of racially mixed marriages. When an old friend ask…
The Value of Hope
Hope obeys Aristotle's doctrine of the mean: one should neither hope too much, nor too little. But what determines what constitutes too much and what constitutes too little for a particular person at a particular time? The sceptic presents an argument to the effect that it is never rational to hope. An attempt to answer the sceptic leads us in different directions. Decision-theoretic and preference-theoretic arguments support the instrumental val…
Democratic Answers to Complex Questions – An Epistemic Perspective
A Utilitarian Assessment of Alternative Decision Rules in the Council of Ministers
We develop a utilitarian framework to assess different decision rules for the European Council of Ministers. The proposals to be decided on are conceptualized as utility vectors and a probability distribution is assumed over the utilities. We first show what decision rules yield the highest expected utilities for different means of the probability distribution. For proposals with high mean utility, simple benchmark rules (such as majority voting …
Bayesian Networks and the Problem of Unreliable Instruments
We appeal to the theory of Bayesian Networks to model different strategies for obtaining confirmation for a hypothesis from experimental test results provided by less than fully reliable instruments. In particular, we consider (i) repeated measurements of a single test consequence of the hypothesis, (ii) measurements of multiple test consequences of the hypothesis, (iii) theoretical support for the reliability of the instrument, and (iv) calibrat…
Too Odd (Not) to Be True? A Reply to Olsson
In ‘Corroborating Testimony, Probability and Surprise’, Erik J. Olsson ascribes to L. Jonathan Cohen the claims that if two witnesses provide us with the same information, then the less probable the information is, the more confident we may be that the information is true (C), and the stronger the information is corroborated (C*). We question whether Cohen intends anything like claims (C) and (C*). Furthermore, he discusses the concurrence of wit…
Measuring common standards and equal responsibility-sharing in EU asylum outcome data
We construct novel measures to assess (i) the extent to which European Union member states are using common standards in recognizing asylum seekers and (ii) the extent to which the responsibilities for asylum applications, acceptances and refugee populations are equally shared among the member states, taking into account population size, gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP expressed in purchasing power parity (GDP-PPP). We track the progression …
A power measure analysis of Amendment 36 in Colorado
The gender-neutral bathroom: A new frame and some nudges
Gender-neutral bathrooms are usually framed as an accommodation for trans and other gender-nonconforming individuals. In this paper, we show that the benefits of gender-neutral bathrooms are much broader. First, our simulations show that gender-neutral bathrooms reduce average waiting times: while waiting times for women go down invariably, waiting times for men either go down or slightly increase depending on usage intensity, occupancy-time diff…
From Each according to Ability; To Each according to Needs
There are three slogans in the history of socialism that are very close in wording, namely, the famous Cabet-Blanc-Marx slogan: From each according to his ability; To each according to his needs; the earlier Saint-Simon–Pecqueur slogan: To each according to his ability; To each according to his works; and the later slogan in Stalin’s 1936 Soviet Constitution: From each according to his ability; To each according to his work. We trace the earliest…
Minimizing the threat of a positive majority deficit in two-tier voting systems with equipopulous units
The puzzle of the hats
The Intentional Acquisition of Mental States
For various reasons a person may wish to have mental states other than the ones she actually has. Let us consider a few examples. I may wish to have more of a taste for dry wines, since my wine-connoisseur friends serve only dry wines at their parties. Or, I may wish to believe that my spouse is not having an affair, though all the evidence suggests that she is. Or, suppose I strongly disapprove of racially mixed marriages. When an old friend ask…
The Intentional Acquisition of Mental States
For various reasons a person may wish to have mental states other than the ones she actually has. Let us consider a few examples. I may wish to have more of a taste for dry wines, since my wine-connoisseur friends serve only dry wines at their parties. Or, I may wish to believe that my spouse is not having an affair, though all the evidence suggests that she is. Or, suppose I strongly disapprove of racially mixed marriages. When an old friend ask…
Moral Luck, Photojournalism, and Pornography
Authenticity in Kurosawa
The Value of Hope
Hope obeys Aristotle's doctrine of the mean: one should neither hope too much, nor too little. But what determines what constitutes too much and what constitutes too little for a particular person at a particular time? The sceptic presents an argument to the effect that it is never rational to hope. An attempt to answer the sceptic leads us in different directions. Decision-theoretic and preference-theoretic arguments support the instrumental val…
Too Odd (Not) to Be True? A Reply to Olsson
In ‘Corroborating Testimony, Probability and Surprise’, Erik J. Olsson ascribes to L. Jonathan Cohen the claims that if two witnesses provide us with the same information, then the less probable the information is, the more confident we may be that the information is true (C), and the stronger the information is corroborated (C*). We question whether Cohen intends anything like claims (C) and (C*). Furthermore, he discusses the concurrence of wit…
Bayesian Networks and the Problem of Unreliable Instruments
We appeal to the theory of Bayesian Networks to model different strategies for obtaining confirmation for a hypothesis from experimental test results provided by less than fully reliable instruments. In particular, we consider (i) repeated measurements of a single test consequence of the hypothesis, (ii) measurements of multiple test consequences of the hypothesis, (iii) theoretical support for the reliability of the instrument, and (iv) calibrat…
A Utilitarian Assessment of Alternative Decision Rules in the Council of Ministers
We develop a utilitarian framework to assess different decision rules for the European Council of Ministers. The proposals to be decided on are conceptualized as utility vectors and a probability distribution is assumed over the utilities. We first show what decision rules yield the highest expected utilities for different means of the probability distribution. For proposals with high mean utility, simple benchmark rules (such as majority voting …
Democratic Answers to Complex Questions – An Epistemic Perspective
Special issue of Synthese on Bayesian Epistemology
Nancy Cartwright's Philosophy of Science
A power measure analysis of Amendment 36 in Colorado
The Ethics of Nudge
The puzzle of the hats
Measuring voting power for dependent voters through causal models
Measuring common standards and equal responsibility-sharing in EU asylum outcome data
We construct novel measures to assess (i) the extent to which European Union member states are using common standards in recognizing asylum seekers and (ii) the extent to which the responsibilities for asylum applications, acceptances and refugee populations are equally shared among the member states, taking into account population size, gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP expressed in purchasing power parity (GDP-PPP). We track the progression …
Minimizing the threat of a positive majority deficit in two-tier voting systems with equipopulous units
The Prisoner's Dilemma
The Prisoner's Dilemma is one of the most fiercely debated thought experiments in philosophy and the social sciences, presenting the simple insight that when two or more agents interact, the actions that most benefit each individual may not benefit the group. The fact that when you do what is best for you, and I do what is best for me, we end up in a situation that is worse for both of us makes the Prisoner's Dilemma relevant to a broad range of …
Behavioural public policies and charitable giving
Some of the challenges in Sanders et al. (2018, this issue) can be aptly illustrated by means of charity nudges; that is, nudges designed to increase charitable donations. These nudges raise many ethical questions. First, Oxfam's triptychs with suggested donations are designed to increase giving. If successful, do our actions match ex ante or ex post preferences? Does this make a difference to the autonomy of the donor? Second, the Behavioural In…
The Ethics of Making Risky Decisions for Others
Utilitarianism, it has been said, is not sensitive to the distribution of welfare. In making risky decisions for others there are multiple sensitivities at work. I present examples of risky decision-making involving drug allocations, charitable giving, breast-cancer screening and Caesarian sections. In each of these examples there is a different sensitivity at work that pulls away from the utilitarian prescription. Instances of saving fewer peopl…
From Each according to Ability; To Each according to Needs
There are three slogans in the history of socialism that are very close in wording, namely, the famous Cabet-Blanc-Marx slogan: From each according to his ability; To each according to his needs; the earlier Saint-Simon–Pecqueur slogan: To each according to his ability; To each according to his works; and the later slogan in Stalin’s 1936 Soviet Constitution: From each according to his ability; To each according to his work. We trace the earliest…
The gender-neutral bathroom: A new frame and some nudges
Gender-neutral bathrooms are usually framed as an accommodation for trans and other gender-nonconforming individuals. In this paper, we show that the benefits of gender-neutral bathrooms are much broader. First, our simulations show that gender-neutral bathrooms reduce average waiting times: while waiting times for women go down invariably, waiting times for men either go down or slightly increase depending on usage intensity, occupancy-time diff…
The Reflection Principle and the Ex-Ante Pareto Principle in Anna Mahtani’s Objects of Credence
First, Mahtani argues that both in the game The Mug and in the Sleeping Beauty we should not defer to a trusted person under a particular designation if they do not self-identify under this designation. This invites a more complex Reflection Principle. I respond that there are more parsimonious ways to avoid the challenges posed to the Reflection Principle. Second, Mahtani argues that preferences create a hyperintensional context, which poses a c…
The ethics of boost
Political science (16 works) · Law (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Mathematical economics (8 works) · Mathematics (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Law (7 works)