Small Probabilities and High Stakes by Christian Tarsney

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
Summary

This Element examines how to weigh tiny probabilities of huge gains or losses in moral decision-making. It critiques both fanaticism and anti-fanaticism, defending a middle view: rationality allows flexibility while often requiring expected value reasoning, especially in real-world contexts.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free US shipping over $15
  • Buying preloved emits 41% less CO2 than new
  • Millions of affordable books
  • Give your books a new home - sell them back to us!

Small Probabilities and High Stakes by Christian Tarsney

What price should you be willing to pay for a tiny probability of an astronomically large gain, or to avoid a tiny probability of an astronomically large loss? Should you be willing to pay any finite price, if the potential gains or losses are large enough? Fanaticism says you should, while anti-fanaticism says you should not. Focusing on morally motivated decision-making, this Element explores arguments for and against both positions, ultimately defending the intermediate view that rationality permits a range of dispositions toward extreme risks, while ruling out the most comprehensive forms of both fanaticism and anti-fanaticism. The final section considers practical implications, arguing that under real-world circumstances any view satisfying a minimal principle of rationality must very often rank options by expected value, and thus sometimes give great weight to intuitively small probabilities, but that we nonetheless retain rational flexibility in sufficiently extreme cases.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781009571609
ISBN 10 1009571605
Title Small Probabilities and High Stakes
Author Christian Tarsney
Series Elements In Decision Theory And Philosophy
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Year published 2026-02-28
Number of pages 75
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.