Regretful Decisions and Climate Change. Issue 2 (March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Livernois, Rebecca
• Other Names: Henderson David guest-editor.; Risjord Mark guest-editor.; Roth Paul A. guest-editor.; Schabas Margaret guest-editor.; Steel Dan guest-editor.; Turner Stephen guest-editor.; Wylie Alison guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Philosophy of the social sciences. Volume 48:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 168
• Page End: 191
• Publication Date: 2018-03
• Subjects: climate change -- rationality -- intransitive preferences -- the puzzle of the self-torturer; Social sciences -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Methodology -- Periodicals; Sciences sociales -- Périodiques; Sciences sociales -- Méthodologie -- Périodiques; 300.1
• DOI: 10.1177/0048393117741335
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0048-3931

Abstract

Climate change has made pressing the question of why we do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By analogy to the puzzle of the self-torturer, I argue that even if interpersonal and intergenerational conflicts of interest were resolved, we may still end up in a regretful environmental state when we aim to maximize our net benefit derived from polluting activities. This is because a rational agent with transitive preferences making climate change decisions faces incentives to over-pollute. This is caused by the presence of marginal costs that are uninformative of well-being in an uncertain and intertemporal decision problem.