Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons
A major problem for interpersonal aggregation is how to compare utility across individuals; a major problem for decision-making under normative uncertainty is the formally analogous problem of how to compare choice-worthiness across theories. We introduce and study a class of methods, which we call...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Journal of Philosophy
2020
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| _version_ | 1797101067958222848 |
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| author | Cotton-Barratt, O MacAskill, W Ord, T |
| author_facet | Cotton-Barratt, O MacAskill, W Ord, T |
| author_sort | Cotton-Barratt, O |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | A major problem for interpersonal aggregation is how to compare utility across individuals; a major problem for decision-making under normative uncertainty is the formally analogous problem of how to compare choice-worthiness across theories. We introduce and study a class of methods, which we call statistical normalization methods, for making interpersonal comparisons of utility and intertheoretic comparisons of choice-worthiness. We argue against the statistical normalization methods that have been proposed in the literature. We argue, instead, in favor of normalization of variance: we claim that this is the account that most plausibly gives all individuals or theories ‘equal say’. To this end, we provide two proofs that variance normalization has desirable properties that all other normalization methods lack, though we also show how different assumptions could lead one to axiomatize alternative statistical normalization methods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:46:40Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:e772e161-2176-4016-a1c0-d75c03befeae |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:46:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Journal of Philosophy |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:e772e161-2176-4016-a1c0-d75c03befeae2022-03-27T10:38:47ZStatistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisonsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:e772e161-2176-4016-a1c0-d75c03befeaeEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordJournal of Philosophy2020Cotton-Barratt, OMacAskill, WOrd, TA major problem for interpersonal aggregation is how to compare utility across individuals; a major problem for decision-making under normative uncertainty is the formally analogous problem of how to compare choice-worthiness across theories. We introduce and study a class of methods, which we call statistical normalization methods, for making interpersonal comparisons of utility and intertheoretic comparisons of choice-worthiness. We argue against the statistical normalization methods that have been proposed in the literature. We argue, instead, in favor of normalization of variance: we claim that this is the account that most plausibly gives all individuals or theories ‘equal say’. To this end, we provide two proofs that variance normalization has desirable properties that all other normalization methods lack, though we also show how different assumptions could lead one to axiomatize alternative statistical normalization methods. |
| spellingShingle | Cotton-Barratt, O MacAskill, W Ord, T Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| title | Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| title_full | Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| title_fullStr | Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| title_short | Statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| title_sort | statistical normalization methods in interpersonal and intertheoretic comparisons |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cottonbarratto statisticalnormalizationmethodsininterpersonalandintertheoreticcomparisons AT macaskillw statisticalnormalizationmethodsininterpersonalandintertheoreticcomparisons AT ordt statisticalnormalizationmethodsininterpersonalandintertheoreticcomparisons |