Description
| Summary: | "Rational choice theory has become the basis for much of the recent work done in political science. And yet explanations of much political phenomena eludes rational choice theorists. Robert Grafstein offers a modification to rational choice theory that extends its ability to explain social behavior. Grafstein argues that, instead of basing the analysis on the assumption that an actor will maximise her expected utility or her utility given the probability that the event will happen, we should define rationality as the maximisation of expected utility conditional on the probability that her act will bring the event about. This definition of utility, based on the work of Richard Jeffrey, restores the consequences of an individual's act to rational choice analysis. For example, in making a decision to vote, a conditional expected utility maximiser will compare the likelihood of victory for her preferred candidate given her own participation with the likelihood of a victory given her abstention."--Jacket.
|
|---|
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xiv, 233 pages) |
|---|
| Format: | Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. |
|---|
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-228) and index. |
|---|
| ISBN: | 9780472022830
0472022830 |
|---|
| Reproduction Note: | Electronic reproduction. |
|---|
| Source of Description, Etc. Note: | Print version record. |
|---|
| Action Note: | digitized |
|---|