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Newcomb's problem is a controversial paradox of decision theory. It is easily explained and easily understood, and there is a strong chance that most of us have actually faced it in some form or other. And yet it has proven as thorny and intractable a puzzle as much older and better-known philosophical problems of consciousness, scepticism and fatalism. It brings into very sharp and focused disagreement several long-standing philosophical theories on practical rationality, on the nature of free will, and on the direction and analysis of causation. This volume introduces readers to the nature of Newcomb's problem, and ten chapters by leading scholars present the most recent debates around the problem and analyse its ramifications for decision theory, metaphysics, philosophical psychology and political science. Their chapters highlight the status of Newcomb's problem as a live and continuing issue in modern philosophy.
A wide-ranging assessment of a famously intractable philosophical problem
Chapters are written by leading scholars in the field
Includes chapters discussing connections between the central problem and other topics and problems, including issues in voting theory, game theory and the metaphysical problems of causality
Introduction Arif Ahmed
1. Does Newcomb's problem Actually Exist? José Luis Bermúdez
2. Newcomb's problem, rationality and restraint Chrisoula Andreou
3. The 'why ain'cha rich' argument Arif Ahmed
4. Epistemic time bias in Newcomb's problem Melissa Fusco
5. Newcomb's problem is everyone's problem: making political and economic decisions when behavior is interdependent Robert Grafstein
6. Success-first decision theories Preston Greene
7. Deliberation and stability in Newcomb's problem James M. Joyce
8. 'Click!' bait for causalists Huw Price and Yang Liu
9. Game theory and decision theory (causal and evidential) Robert Stalnaker
10. Diagnosing Newcomb's problem with causal graphs Reuben Stern.
Description
Newcomb's problem is a controversial paradox of decision theory. It is easily explained and easily understood, and there is a strong chance that most of us have actually faced it in some form or other. And yet it has proven as thorny and intractable a puzzle as much older and better-known philosophical problems of consciousness, scepticism and fatalism. It brings into very sharp and focused disagreement several long-standing philosophical theories on practical rationality, on the nature of free will, and on the direction and analysis of causation. This volume introduces readers to the nature of Newcomb's problem, and ten chapters by leading scholars present the most recent debates around the problem and analyse its ramifications for decision theory, metaphysics, philosophical psychology and political science. Their chapters highlight the status of Newcomb's problem as a live and continuing issue in modern philosophy.
A wide-ranging assessment of a famously intractable philosophical problem
Chapters are written by leading scholars in the field
Includes chapters discussing connections between the central problem and other topics and problems, including issues in voting theory, game theory and the metaphysical problems of causality
