MWF 10:00 - 11:00, Buchanan B318
TA Information: TBA
Handouts (and Overheads)
Announcements
September 20:
1. The discussion of Elga’s “Sleeping Beauty” article is
postponed to a later week.
2. Omit
3. Omit Box 3.2 from chapter 3.
September 24:
As of today, this website is being discontinued and replaced by Vista. Go to www.vista.ubc.ca and click on Phil 321. All course handouts, assignments and announcements will be located on Vista.
Paul Bartha
Buchanan E-366
Tel. 822-2621
E-mail: pbartha@exchange.ubc.ca
MW 12:00-1:00 or by appointment
Description: There are two well-developed philosophical theories that try to characterize what it means to make choices rationally. One is decision Theory, which considers the position of one agent choosing between several alternatives, with varying levels of information about factors that might influence the resulting outcomes. The other is game theory, which provides techniques for analyzing interactions among several agents.
The course explains the fundamentals of these two theories and relevant background concepts such as probability and utility. We also explore paradoxical situations where the theories appear to clash with ordinary intuitions about rationality. We will consider applications throughout the course, with emphasis on social applications of game theory, and conclude with an introduction to evolutionary game theory and a discussion of Skyrms’ book, Evolution of the Social Contract.
Texts: