Jordan Howard Sobel
Biographic Data
| ID | 986462 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jordan Howard Sobel |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jordan Howard |
| FAMILY NAME | Sobel |
| SIGNATURE | SOBEL J H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 62 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1965 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
‘Hoist with His Owne Petar’: 1 On the Undoing of a Liar Paradox
A Liar would express a proposition that is true and not true. A Liar Paradox would, per impossibile , demonstrate the reality of a Liar . To resolve a Liar Paradox it is sufficient to make out of its demonstration a reductio of the existence of the proposition that would be true and not true, and to “explain away” the charm of the paradoxical contrary demonstration. Persuasive demonstrations of the Liar Paradox in this paper trade on allusive sco…
Money Pumps
After maintaining in (Sobel 1997) that certain cyclical preferences can be reasonable, the following questions were tabled: “in what circumstances and under what assumptions ... these ... preferences of George's would turn him into a ”money pump,” and in what circumstances and under what assumptions they would not do that.” (47) Two pumps afford answers. George, who is sufficiently reasonable and well-informed to use backward induction, has, for …
Blackburn's Problem: On Its Not Insignificant Residue
Moral properties would supervene upon non‐moral properties and be conceptually autonomous. That, according to Simon Blackburn, would make them if not impossible at least mysterious, and evidence for them best explained by theorists who say they are not real. In fact moral properties would not challenge in ways Blackburn has contended. There is, however, something new that can be gathered from his arguments. What would the supervenience of moral p…
Cyclical Preferences and World Bayesianism
An example shows that ‘pairwise preferences’ (certain hypothetical choices) can cycle even when rational. General considerations entail that preferences tout court (certain relations of actual valuations) cannot cycle. A world-bayesian theory is explained that accommodates these two kinds of preference, and a theory for rational actions that would have them maximize and be objects of ratifiable choices. It is observed that choices can be unratifi…
Hume's Utilitarian Theory of Right Action
A theory of right action is implicit in Hume’s delineation of the virtues. It gives qualified priority to ‘rules of justice’ as Hume’s remarks on ‘that species of utility which attends this virtue’ require. It is a useful actual‐rule, not an ideal possible‐rule, purely utilitarian theory that discounts rules of justice in ‘extraordinary cases’, has a problem when rules conflict, and invites the question ‘Why not hark directly to the supreme law o…
Pascalian wagers
On the significance of conditional probabilities
Taking Chances
Must Constrained Maximizers Be Uncharitable
By his definition of them, David Gauthier's co-operative constrained maximizers are not necessarily unsharing and disposed to exclude straight maximizers from benefits of their co-operation. Here is Gauthier's full and exact account, his official account, of constrained maximization
Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice
Journal Article Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice. Get access Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice. By SOBEL (JORDAN HOWARD). (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Pp. x + 376. £35.00 hardback, US $59.95 hardback. ISBN 0 521 41635 3.) Marina Bianchi Marina Bianchi Università di Cassino, Italy Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 105, Issue 432, 1 Se…
Rights to Punish for Libertarians
Thomas Hurka derives rights to punish from what I will term the Libertarian Rights Principle, which is “that there is really only one natural right, namely the equal right of all persons to the most extensive liberty compatible with a like liberty for other persons, and that all other natural rights are species or instances of the right to liberty.” These rights to punish, he says, (1) extend only to punishing violators of rights, never to “punis…
Plato's Crito: A question of agreement
Backward-Induction Arguments: A Paradox Regained
According to a familiar argument, iterated prisoner's dilemmas of known finite lengths resolve for ideally rational and well-informed players: They would defect in the last round, anticipate this in the next to last round and so defect in it, and so on. But would they anticipate defections even if they had been cooperating? Not necessarily, say recent critics. These critics “lose” the backward-induction paradox by imposing indicative interpretati…
Some versions of Newcomb's Problem are Prisoners' Dilemmas
Non-dominance, third person and non-action Newcomb problems, and metatickles
Hume's Theorem on Testimony Sufficient to Establish a Miracle
Journal Article Hume's Theorem on Testimony Sufficient to Establish a Miracle Get access Jordan Howard Sobel Jordan Howard Sobel University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 41, Issue 163, April 1991, Pages 229–237, https://doi.org/10.2307/2219595 Published: 01 April 1991
Maximization, Stability of Decision, and Actions in Accordance with Reason
Rational actions reflect beliefs and preferences in certain orderly ways. The problem of theory is to explain which beliefs and preferences are relevant to the rationality of particular actions, and exactly how they are relevant. One distinction of interest here is between an agent's beliefs and preferences just before an action's time, and his beliefs and preferences at its time. Theorists do not agree about the times of beliefs and desires that…
Partition-Theorems for Causal Decision Theories
Two partition-theorems are proved for a particular causal decision theory. One is restricted to a certain kind of partition of circumstances, and analyzes the utility of an option in terms of its utilities in conjunction with circumstances in this partition. The other analyzes an option's utility in terms of its utilities conditional on circumstances and is quite unrestricted. While the first form seems more useful for applications, the second fo…
Defenses and conservative revisions of evidential decision theories: Metatickles and ratificationism
Infallible Predictors
Maximizing, Optimizing, and Prospering
David Gauthier distinguishes maximizing given the actions others do from maximizing given the happiness others get, and maintains that universal conformities to the first rule coincide with equilibria in utility spaces of possible interactions, whereas universal conformities to the second coincide with optima. In Part One of the present paper some of his views concerning these matters of technical detail are tested under a variety of interpretati…
The law student and his teacher
On the Evidence of Testimony for Miracles: A Bayesian Interpretation of David Hume's Analysis
Journal Article On The Evidence of Testimony For Miracles: A Bayesian Interpretation of David Hume'S Analysis Get access Jordan Howard Sobel Jordan Howard Sobel University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 37, Issue 147, April 1987, Pages 166–186, https://doi.org/10.2307/2220336 Published: 01 April 1987
Circumstances and dominance in a causal decision theory
Utilitarianism and Cooperation
Donald Regan's book is a study of forms of utilitarian theory and of properties to which these forms may aspire. He deals exclusively with "fully objective" theories that seek to systematize and set conditions for obligations that an agent is supposed to lie under as a consequence of features of situations in which he finds himself, with no dependence on his possibly defective beliefs, attitudes, and values (except as features of his situations).…
Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice
Journal Article Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice. Get access Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice. By SOBEL (JORDAN HOWARD). (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Pp. x + 376. £35.00 hardback, US $59.95 hardback. ISBN 0 521 41635 3.) Marina Bianchi Marina Bianchi Università di Cassino, Italy Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 105, Issue 432, 1 Se…
Circumstances and dominance in a causal decision theory
Partition-Theorems for Causal Decision Theories
Two partition-theorems are proved for a particular causal decision theory. One is restricted to a certain kind of partition of circumstances, and analyzes the utility of an option in terms of its utilities in conjunction with circumstances in this partition. The other analyzes an option's utility in terms of its utilities conditional on circumstances and is quite unrestricted. While the first form seems more useful for applications, the second fo…
Infallible Predictors
On the Evidence of Testimony for Miracles: A Bayesian Interpretation of David Hume's Analysis
Journal Article On The Evidence of Testimony For Miracles: A Bayesian Interpretation of David Hume'S Analysis Get access Jordan Howard Sobel Jordan Howard Sobel University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 37, Issue 147, April 1987, Pages 166–186, https://doi.org/10.2307/2220336 Published: 01 April 1987
Pascalian wagers
Maximization, Stability of Decision, and Actions in Accordance with Reason
Rational actions reflect beliefs and preferences in certain orderly ways. The problem of theory is to explain which beliefs and preferences are relevant to the rationality of particular actions, and exactly how they are relevant. One distinction of interest here is between an agent's beliefs and preferences just before an action's time, and his beliefs and preferences at its time. Theorists do not agree about the times of beliefs and desires that…
Defenses and conservative revisions of evidential decision theories: Metatickles and ratificationism
Utilitarianism and Cooperation
Donald Regan's book is a study of forms of utilitarian theory and of properties to which these forms may aspire. He deals exclusively with "fully objective" theories that seek to systematize and set conditions for obligations that an agent is supposed to lie under as a consequence of features of situations in which he finds himself, with no dependence on his possibly defective beliefs, attitudes, and values (except as features of his situations).…
Backward-Induction Arguments: A Paradox Regained
According to a familiar argument, iterated prisoner's dilemmas of known finite lengths resolve for ideally rational and well-informed players: They would defect in the last round, anticipate this in the next to last round and so defect in it, and so on. But would they anticipate defections even if they had been cooperating? Not necessarily, say recent critics. These critics “lose” the backward-induction paradox by imposing indicative interpretati…
Determinism: A Small Point
The usual argument to show that Causal Determinism entails that our actions are determined by factors at no time under our control is defective. Though repairs suggest themselves, none are both plausible and obviously adequate. I substantiate these claims in turn
Money Pumps
After maintaining in (Sobel 1997) that certain cyclical preferences can be reasonable, the following questions were tabled: “in what circumstances and under what assumptions ... these ... preferences of George's would turn him into a ”money pump,” and in what circumstances and under what assumptions they would not do that.” (47) Two pumps afford answers. George, who is sufficiently reasonable and well-informed to use backward induction, has, for …
Cyclical Preferences and World Bayesianism
An example shows that ‘pairwise preferences’ (certain hypothetical choices) can cycle even when rational. General considerations entail that preferences tout court (certain relations of actual valuations) cannot cycle. A world-bayesian theory is explained that accommodates these two kinds of preference, and a theory for rational actions that would have them maximize and be objects of ratifiable choices. It is observed that choices can be unratifi…
Hume's Utilitarian Theory of Right Action
A theory of right action is implicit in Hume’s delineation of the virtues. It gives qualified priority to ‘rules of justice’ as Hume’s remarks on ‘that species of utility which attends this virtue’ require. It is a useful actual‐rule, not an ideal possible‐rule, purely utilitarian theory that discounts rules of justice in ‘extraordinary cases’, has a problem when rules conflict, and invites the question ‘Why not hark directly to the supreme law o…
On the significance of conditional probabilities
Some versions of Newcomb's Problem are Prisoners' Dilemmas
Hume's Theorem on Testimony Sufficient to Establish a Miracle
Journal Article Hume's Theorem on Testimony Sufficient to Establish a Miracle Get access Jordan Howard Sobel Jordan Howard Sobel University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 41, Issue 163, April 1991, Pages 229–237, https://doi.org/10.2307/2219595 Published: 01 April 1991
Maximizing, Optimizing, and Prospering
David Gauthier distinguishes maximizing given the actions others do from maximizing given the happiness others get, and maintains that universal conformities to the first rule coincide with equilibria in utility spaces of possible interactions, whereas universal conformities to the second coincide with optima. In Part One of the present paper some of his views concerning these matters of technical detail are tested under a variety of interpretati…
Utility Maximizers in Iterated Prisoner's Dilemmas
Maximizers in isolated Prisoner's Dilemmas are doomed to frustration. But in Braybrooke's view maximizers might do better in a series, securing Pareto-optimal arrangements if not from the very beginning, at least eventually. Given certain favourable special conditions, it can be shown according to Braybrooke and shown even without question-begging motivational or value assumptions, that in a series of Dilemmas maximizers could manage to communica…
Dummett on Fatalism
Generalization Arguments
Dummett on Fatalism
An Anatomy of Values: Problems of Personal and Social Choice
Determinism: A Small Point
The usual argument to show that Causal Determinism entails that our actions are determined by factors at no time under our control is defective. Though repairs suggest themselves, none are both plausible and obviously adequate. I substantiate these claims in turn
Utility Maximizers in Iterated Prisoner's Dilemmas
Maximizers in isolated Prisoner's Dilemmas are doomed to frustration. But in Braybrooke's view maximizers might do better in a series, securing Pareto-optimal arrangements if not from the very beginning, at least eventually. Given certain favourable special conditions, it can be shown according to Braybrooke and shown even without question-begging motivational or value assumptions, that in a series of Dilemmas maximizers could manage to communica…
Utilitarian principles for imperfect agents
Expected utilities and rational actions and choices
Names and Indefinite Descriptions in Ontological Arguments
So begins a recent ontological argument. But what if there are no most perfect beings? Letting God be one, that is, letting “God” name one at the very beginning seems premature. Clearly it is best to leave “God” out of the argument until one is in a position to introduce him by existential instantiation, or, by further argumentation, to identify him with a most perfect being: clearly it is best to leave “God” out of the argument until it has been…
Circumstances and dominance in a causal decision theory
Utilitarianism and Cooperation
Donald Regan's book is a study of forms of utilitarian theory and of properties to which these forms may aspire. He deals exclusively with "fully objective" theories that seek to systematize and set conditions for obligations that an agent is supposed to lie under as a consequence of features of situations in which he finds himself, with no dependence on his possibly defective beliefs, attitudes, and values (except as features of his situations).…
The law student and his teacher
On the Evidence of Testimony for Miracles: A Bayesian Interpretation of David Hume's Analysis
Journal Article On The Evidence of Testimony For Miracles: A Bayesian Interpretation of David Hume'S Analysis Get access Jordan Howard Sobel Jordan Howard Sobel University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 37, Issue 147, April 1987, Pages 166–186, https://doi.org/10.2307/2220336 Published: 01 April 1987
Defenses and conservative revisions of evidential decision theories: Metatickles and ratificationism
Infallible Predictors
Maximizing, Optimizing, and Prospering
David Gauthier distinguishes maximizing given the actions others do from maximizing given the happiness others get, and maintains that universal conformities to the first rule coincide with equilibria in utility spaces of possible interactions, whereas universal conformities to the second coincide with optima. In Part One of the present paper some of his views concerning these matters of technical detail are tested under a variety of interpretati…
Partition-Theorems for Causal Decision Theories
Two partition-theorems are proved for a particular causal decision theory. One is restricted to a certain kind of partition of circumstances, and analyzes the utility of an option in terms of its utilities in conjunction with circumstances in this partition. The other analyzes an option's utility in terms of its utilities conditional on circumstances and is quite unrestricted. While the first form seems more useful for applications, the second fo…
Maximization, Stability of Decision, and Actions in Accordance with Reason
Rational actions reflect beliefs and preferences in certain orderly ways. The problem of theory is to explain which beliefs and preferences are relevant to the rationality of particular actions, and exactly how they are relevant. One distinction of interest here is between an agent's beliefs and preferences just before an action's time, and his beliefs and preferences at its time. Theorists do not agree about the times of beliefs and desires that…
Some versions of Newcomb's Problem are Prisoners' Dilemmas
Non-dominance, third person and non-action Newcomb problems, and metatickles
Hume's Theorem on Testimony Sufficient to Establish a Miracle
Journal Article Hume's Theorem on Testimony Sufficient to Establish a Miracle Get access Jordan Howard Sobel Jordan Howard Sobel University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 41, Issue 163, April 1991, Pages 229–237, https://doi.org/10.2307/2219595 Published: 01 April 1991
Backward-Induction Arguments: A Paradox Regained
According to a familiar argument, iterated prisoner's dilemmas of known finite lengths resolve for ideally rational and well-informed players: They would defect in the last round, anticipate this in the next to last round and so defect in it, and so on. But would they anticipate defections even if they had been cooperating? Not necessarily, say recent critics. These critics “lose” the backward-induction paradox by imposing indicative interpretati…
Plato's Crito: A question of agreement
Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice
Journal Article Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice. Get access Taking Chances: Essays on Rational Choice. By SOBEL (JORDAN HOWARD). (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Pp. x + 376. £35.00 hardback, US $59.95 hardback. ISBN 0 521 41635 3.) Marina Bianchi Marina Bianchi Università di Cassino, Italy Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 105, Issue 432, 1 Se…
Rights to Punish for Libertarians
Thomas Hurka derives rights to punish from what I will term the Libertarian Rights Principle, which is “that there is really only one natural right, namely the equal right of all persons to the most extensive liberty compatible with a like liberty for other persons, and that all other natural rights are species or instances of the right to liberty.” These rights to punish, he says, (1) extend only to punishing violators of rights, never to “punis…
Pascalian wagers
Philosophy (26 works) · Epistemology (22 works) · Computer Science (17 works) · Mathematical economics (13 works) · Artificial Intelligence (11 works) · Artificial Intelligence (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics (9 works) · Mathematics (9 works) · Metaphysics (8 works)