Commitment and Resoluteness in Rational Choice
Chrisoula Andreou
Abstract
Drawing and building on the existing literature, this Element explores the interesting and challenging philosophical terrain where issues regarding cooperation, commitment, and control intersect. Section 1 discusses interpersonal and intrapersonal Prisoner's Dilemma situations, and the possibility of a set of unrestrained choices adding up in a way that is problematic relative to the concerns of the choosers involved. Section 2 focuses on the role of precommitment devices in rational choice. Section 3 considers the role of resoluteness in rational choice and action. Finally, section 4 delves into some related complications concerning the nature of actions and the nature of intentions.
Topics & Concepts
PrecommitmentIntrapersonal communicationSection (typography)DilemmaAction (physics)Element (criminal law)Set (abstract data type)Interpersonal communicationRationalitySocial psychologyRational choice theory (criminology)PsychologyEpistemologySociologyLaw and economicsPolitical scienceComputer scienceBusinessAdvertisingLawCriminologyPhilosophyQuantum mechanicsPhysicsProgramming languageFree Will and AgencyPhilosophical Ethics and TheoryEpistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics