What to do when you don't know what to do

Abstract

Normative uncertainty occurs when an individual is unsure of the correct course of action due to conflicting normative propositions. Determining the rational course of action in such situations is difficult because degrees of belief are divided between multiple, mutually exclusive normative propositions, a division not entirely due to non-normative uncertainty. Expected objective value assigns a subjective probability to practical comparatives, multiplies this by the objective value of the action if the comparative is true, and sums these values across all comparatives. A challenge is comparing the value difference between actions when different comparatives are true, known as the Problem of Value Difference Comparisons. A solution is to allow individuals to hold practical conditionals that describe the relationship between comparative propositions and a background ranking of actions. This method provides a way to compare value differences across comparatives. However, additional extensions and modifications are needed to accommodate multiple comparatives, multiple conditionals, multiple background rankings, and partially cocardinal background rankings. – AI-generated abstract