Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Decisions: Decisions are choices that we make between two or more options, which can have a significant impact on our lives. It is usually assumed that decisions cannot be reversed._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Adam Smith on Decisions - Dictionary of Arguments
Otteson I 33 Decisions/knowledge/Adam Smith/Otteson: Smith writes: "What is the species of domestick industry which his capital can employ, and of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, every individual, it is evident, can, in his local situation, judge much better than any statesman or lawgiver can do for him" (WN(1): 456). Otteson: As Smith develops it, this argument proceeds as a three-step syllogism: Premise 1: People's individual situations, along with their values, purposes, and opportunities, are known best by individuals themselves. Premise 2: To be made wisely, decisions about allocating resources must exploit knowledge of situation, value, purpose, and opportunity. Conclusion: Therefore, the person best positioned to make such decisions is the individual. Otteson I 34 Otteson: Smith's claim is not that individuals are infallible or that they never make mistakes; obviously we all make mistakes, frustratingly often. And of course there might be special cases - for example, children or the mentally infirm - where individuals are not, in fact, best positioned to make decisions in their own cases. But for the vast majority of normally functioning adults, Smith's claim is that their personal knowledge of their own situations exceeds that of others. Hence, if making good decisions requires utilizing this knowledge, then in the vast majority of cases the persons who should be making decisions is those persons themselves. Local knowledge/Adam Smith/Otteson: (…) the statesman does not possess the local knowledge of individual people's circumstances, values, goals, and resources that he would need in order to make good decisions for them. For Richard ThalerVsSmith, Adam see >Decision-making/Thaler. >Governance/Adam Smith._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
EconSmith I Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiments London 2010 EconSmithV I Vernon L. Smith Rationality in Economics: Constructivist and Ecological Forms Cambridge 2009 Otteson I James R. Otteson The Essential Adam Smith Vancouver: Fraser Institute. 2018 |
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