Vagueness in Decision-Making: Bringing Philosophy and Social Sciences Together

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02110
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Philosophy/Ethics
• Research Institution: Yamanashi Gakuin University (2017-2018); Tokyo Denki University (2016)
• Principal Investigator: DIETZ Richard 山梨学院大学, 国際リベラルアーツ学部, 特任准教授 (10625651)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: Vagueness / Higher-order vagueness / Paradox / Rationality / Decision-Making / Communication

Outline of Final Research Achievements

My research resulted in the publication of two major editorial projects: first, a collection of papers on vagueness and probability, in which the probabilistic nature of vague categorization and implications of vague probabilities for rational inductive inference are discussed; second, a collection of papers on vagueness and rationality, in which the rationality of vagueness and the impact of vague preferences on rational decision making are discussed. In a paper (under review), I develop a novel account of vagueness that ties vague categorisation closely with grading behaviour: according to this, vagueness is a kind of satisfycing behaviour, that is, a species of bounded rationality. In another paper (under review), I defend a pluralistic approach to the normative theory of vague preferences, drawing a connection between different normative constraints on rational choice involving vagueness and different conceptions of value relations

Free Research Field

Formal Epistemology, Decision Theory. etc

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

My research brought approaches from social sciences to vagueness fruitfully to bear on the philosophical discussion of vagueness; and likewise, the metaphysics of value relations to questions of value theory.