Theory Choice and Social Choice: Kuhn versus Arrow

Theory Choice and Social Choice: Kuhn versus Arrow

Theory Choice and Social Choice : Kuhn versus Arrow

Kuhn’s famous thesis that there is ‘no unique algorithm’ for choosing between rival scientific theories is analysed using the machinery of social choice theory. It is shown that the problem of theory choice as posed by Kuhn is formally identical to a standard social choice problem. This suggests that analogues of well-known results from the social choice literature, such as Arrow’s impossibilit...

Rational theory choice: Arrow undermined, Kuhn vindicated

In a recent paper, Samir Okasha presented an argument that suggests that there is no rational way to choose among scientific theories. This would seriously undermine the view that science is a rational entreprise. In this paper I show how a suitably nuanced view of what scientific rationality requires allows us to avoid Okasha’s conclusion. I go on to argue that making further assumptions about...

Social Choice Theory in HOL Arrow and Gibbard-Satterthwaite

This article presents formalizations in higher-order logic of two proofs of Arrow’s impossibility theorem due to Geanakoplos. The Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem is derived as a corollary. Lacunae found in the literature are discussed.

Social Choice Theory

1. revised and extended axiomatic theory and proof development. 2. a new curriculum with extensive questions, intuitive illustrations of key concepts, exercises in formal proofs, and an emphasis on the use of mathematical logic as a formal tool for the analysis of informal concept". 3. parallel languages-a completely new formal language containing concise formulas for use in proofs together wit...