I agree you want to choose according to your current utility function (preferences), and this explains all of the examples you have in basically the same way you explained it (that modifying taste is not the same as modifying the utility function/preferences).
I can see this being a problem, though. What is to stop us from doing the following. Let Ut(x) be my true utility function and let Up(y) be my so called *practical* utility function. Furthermore, let Up(y)=x so that Ut(x)=Ut(Up(y)). If we agree that changing the taste function doesn’t alter the utility function, then changing Up(y)shouldn’t alter my utility function—but this is all it is based on!
You seem to be taking the position that as long as you can define your utility function/preferences in terms of another function, it’s fine to change that function. I agree this seems wrong. In the apple/chocolate/banana case, I prefer worlds in which I have the subjective feeling of good taste. That preference is not getting modified. In this new case, I care directly about y, so you can’t just go and modify Up(y) and expect not to be changing my preferences.
Btw, side note: If you aren’t dealing with probability (as in this post), then “having a utility function” just means “having transitive preferences about all possible world-histories” (or world-states if you don’t care about actions or paths to states). So it’s worth thinking about this in terms of transitive preferences. I think that makes my argument clearer, and probably would help with other issues you raise in the post.
That’s where this comment went! Yeah, sorry about that, ignore it.
(I did post this on the correct post, but when I clicked “Submit” it just vanished and I had no idea what happened to it. Somehow it made it’s way here.)
I agree you want to choose according to your current utility function (preferences), and this explains all of the examples you have in basically the same way you explained it (that modifying taste is not the same as modifying the utility function/preferences).
You seem to be taking the position that as long as you can define your utility function/preferences in terms of another function, it’s fine to change that function. I agree this seems wrong. In the apple/chocolate/banana case, I prefer worlds in which I have the subjective feeling of good taste. That preference is not getting modified. In this new case, I care directly about
y, so you can’t just go and modifyUp(y)and expect not to be changing my preferences.Btw, side note: If you aren’t dealing with probability (as in this post), then “having a utility function” just means “having transitive preferences about all possible world-histories” (or world-states if you don’t care about actions or paths to states). So it’s worth thinking about this in terms of transitive preferences. I think that makes my argument clearer, and probably would help with other issues you raise in the post.
(this looks like it got posted in the wrong place?)
That’s where this comment went! Yeah, sorry about that, ignore it.
(I did post this on the correct post, but when I clicked “Submit” it just vanished and I had no idea what happened to it. Somehow it made it’s way here.)