Puzzles of Practical Reasoning Adaptive Preference

Question 1

What are adaptive preferences?
what’s the recieved view versus what adaptive preferences actually are?

Answer 1

a preference one forms for what one can get, because they can get it, or against what one can’t because they can’t get it
received view: adaptive preference is a response to the feasibility of alternatives — wanting what you want based on what you can get it
what an adaptive response really is: a response to frustration
NOT self defective

Question 2

How do adaptive preferences appear defective? (3 ways)

Answer 2

preferences haven’t really changed, only belief has changed
the motivated acquisitions or maintenance of a belief in spite of one’s having evidence that the belief is false.

three ways:
1.irrational — internally defective because want things that are worse more
2. satisfaction of the preference does not make you better off—provides no evidence of what’s in your well-being (not based on the goodness of alternative, based on whether you can get it)
3. policy should aim to satisfy non-adaptive preferences, not adaptive preferences

Question 3

What is the relation between adaptive preference and self-deception?

Answer 3

Adaptive preference and self-deception are related because adaptive preference can involve or lead to self-deception:

Adaptive preference IS NOT but will often INVOLVE self-deception, because agents with adaptive preferences will often deceive themselves about whether their preferences are adaptive
this is why there seems to be something wrong with adapting one’s preference
self deception involves a belief change to reduce cognitive dissonance whereas adaptive preferences CAN be self deception (i.e., they can lie to themselves by not admitting to themselves what is actually true to them)

Question 4

What problem do adaptive preferences pose for subjectivism about well-being and preference utilitarianism?

Answer 4

subjectivism about well being says: well-being consists in getting what you want (and not getting what you don’t want)
are we really getting what we want if we’re adapting?

preference utilitarianism: maximize the satisfaction of wants/minimize the frustration of wants

it’s plausible that adaptive preferences don’t provide the same evidence of your well-being, and it seems like getting what you want is not all that matters to being well off. it matters on what you get and the reasons that you want it.

Question 5

What is the puzzle of adaptive preference?

Answer 5

1. Some people think adaptive preference is problematic. Why? What’s wrong with them?
2. if it is bad, how is it distinguished from the 1st cases?

Question 6

What is character planning?

Answer 6

altering one’s character or preferences so as to promote desire satisfaction and mitigate frustration

Question 7

What is Elster’s solution to the puzzle? What is wrong with it?

Answer 7

Elster suggests that the agent’s judgment changes in the moment of action—specifically through a shift in desire or preference.

Critics argue this fails to capture real weakness of will, where a person knowingly acts against their better judgment and later feels regret—so the conflict is not explained, but erased