Why "Should" Statisticians and Businessmen Maximize "Moral Expectation"
Abstract
The word "should" in the title of this paper has the same meaning as in the following sentences: "In building a house, why should one act on the assumption that the floor area of a room is the product and not the sum of its length and width?"; "If all A are B and all B are C, why should one avoid acting as if all C were A?" People may often act contrary to these precepts or norms but then we say that they do not act reasonably. To discuss a set of norms of reasonable behavior (or possibly two or more such sets, each set being consistent internally but possibly inconsistent with other sets) is a problem in logic, not in psychology. It is a normative, not a descriptive, problem. The phrase "moral expectation" stems from the early students of probability who applied probabilities in their study of reasonable behavior of players in games of chance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1951
- Accession Number
- AD1028718
Entities
People
- J. Marschak