Avoiding Risk and Avoiding Evidence

Summary

This argues that evidence gathering is epistemically irrational for the (Buchak-style) risk-avoidant agent. To do this we consider how accuracy should be measured once risk-awareness is rationally permissible.

Abstract

It is natural to think that there is something epistemically objectionable about avoiding evidence, at least in ideal cases. We argue that this natural thought is inconsistent with a kind of risk-avoidance that is both wide-spread and intuitively rational. More specifically, we argue that if the kind of risk-avoidance recently defended by Lara Buchak is rational, avoiding evidence can be epistemically commendable.

In the course of our argument we also lay some foundations for studying epistemic value, or accuracy, when considering risk-avoidant agents.

Publication
Australasian Journal of Philosophy