Corso di laurea magistrale in Filosofia

Knowledge of mathematics at high school level, and interest in understanding human rationality. The course is open for students from all disciplines and also interesting for continentally oriented
philosophers.

The course introduces students to the essential elements of decision theory, expected utility theory, game theory and their applications to understanding human interaction in society (e.g., altruistic behavior, the concept of fairness, the breakdown of negotiations, emergence and decline of social norms). More broadly, the course familiarizes students with modern theories of instrumental rationality which are contrasted to empirical evidence and rivalling philosophical theories of rationality (e.g., Kantian accounts). They learn to evaluate human actions using the tools of decision and game theory and at the same time, they learn how to evaluate those theories critically and to identify their scope and limits.

Students obtain a clear understanding of what it means to decide and to behave rationally, and to give a critical evaluation of the scope, success and limits of theories of rational choice. They understand the technical foundations of rational choice and game theory and can apply these theories to real-world phenomena.

Part I: Instrumental Rationality and the Concept of Utility

Week 1: The concept of utility in the British philosophy of the 18th and 19th century (Hume, Bentham,
Mill), and its impact on the modern concept of instrumental rationality. Contrast with Kantian conceptions of rationality.

Week 2: Weber's typology of different types of rationality. Discussion of the scientific character of impersonal  comparisons of utility (Robbins vs. Harsányi).

Part II: Decision Theory

Week 3: The concept of value or utility function. Statement and proof of the van Neumann-Morgenstern
representation theorem for expected utility maximization. Criticism of the underlying axioms (Allais' paradox), analysis of the concept of risk attitude.  Optional: introduction to prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky).

Week 4: More abstract representation results. Statement and proof sketch of Savage's representation
theorem for expected utility maximization. Critical discussion of the underlying axioms and the Sure-
Thing Principle in particular (Ellsberg' paradox). Non-probabilistic decision rules.

Part III: Game Theory and Social Norms

Week 5: Introduction to game theory and its central concepts such as dominant strategies, Nash equilibria, backward induction, etc. Different kinds of Nash equilibria (e.g., pure and randomized ones), and their interpretations.

Week 6: Applying game theory to explaining altruistic behavior cooperation. Criticism and limitations of
game theory from an empirical point of view. The evolutionary interpretation of game theory. Introduction to cooperative bargaining theory. Optional: theory of social norms (Bicchieri).

Mixture of lecture and seminar. Week 3-6 require a certain degree of lezione frontale due to the technical nature of the content. However, students will have the option to test their understanding of the material through interactive course elements (e.g., in-classroom games, choosing between different hypothetical options, etc.).

Active partecipation is a prerequisite for passing the course.

Essay (ca. 3,000 words) and written exam. These two elements count equally toward the final grade (45%
each). The remaining 10% of the grade is determined on the basis of contributions in class.i.

Studenti e studentesse in situazioni particolari (p.es., DSA, ma anche impegni di famiglia ecc.) sono pregati/e di informare il docente all'inizio del corso, per concordare un percorso di apprendimento personale adatto alle loro esigenze, anche al di là delle misure compensative e dispensative previste per l’esame.

The collection "The Theory of Choice", edited by Shaun Hargreaves-Heap (Blackwell, 1992), is a good background reading.

Participation in the classes is obligatory. There is no exam for "non-frequentanti".

A syllabus with a more detailed course schedule and the course bibliography will be made available on campusnet to registered students some weeks before the course. In general, we will focus on reading articles and short excerpts from books.