Keywords

rational decision-making, procedural rationality, control problems

Abstract

Substantive rationality requires a decision-maker to be a utility maximizer; under this paradigm, the decision is paramount, and not dependent on the computational process used to obtain it. Procedural rationality is dependent on the method used to make the decision; reasonableness of the procedure is paramount. Well-formed problems are amenable to substantive rationality; ill-formed problems are not, but are amenable to procedural rationality. To qualify as being procedurally rational, a methodology must possess a sound epistemological basis, it must be amenable to a formal design synthesis procedure, and it must be consistent with substantive rationality. Epistemic utility theory forms the basis of a decision rule that is procedurally rational. This theory adapts to decision-making in the context of control theory, and leads to a specific design procedure that may be applied to single- and multiple-agent ill-formed control problems.

Original Publication Citation

W. C. Stirling and M. A. Goodrich and R. L. Frost. Procedurally Rational Decision-Making and Control. IEEE Control Systems, 16(5):66-75, October 1996.