Lisa Hecht (Stockholm): “Permissible Risk-Inclination in Other-regarding Choices”

This event will take place online via Zoom.

Everyone is welcome to join using a computer with access to the internet and Zoom. To take part just follow these instructions:

• Download Zoom
• Join the event using this link: https://lse.zoom.us/j/87191240751

Please note that these events are routinely recorded, with the edited footage being made publicly available on our website and YouTube channel. We will only record the audio, the slides and the speaker and will not include the Q&A section. However, any question asked during the talk itself will feature in the final edit.

Abstract: Faced with two or more options, a decision-maker may choose a riskier option for herself even if this option does not maximize her expected utility. When it comes to other-regarding choices, it is less clear whether a decision-maker may permissibly choose a riskier option that does not maximize the expected utility of the affected individual. The two dominant views in the literature require the decision-maker to either maximize expected utility or to choose with risk-aversion. In this paper, I argue that it is sometimes permissible to choose a riskier but non-maximizing option for another individual. The challenge here, as for the dominant views, is to find a justification that the affected individual can accept regardless of how the gamble turns out. I consider three possible justifications for risk-inclined other-regarding choices. As will become clear, risk-inclination seems easier to justify when the decision-maker and the affected individual are in a situation of vulnerability with only bad options to choose from.

Lisa Hecht is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Philosophy at Stockholm University.