Event Timeslots (1)
Thursday
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L.A. Paul's Transformative Experience (2014) argues that some life choices fundamentally change who we are and what we value, in ways we cannot fully imagine beforehand. Decisions like becoming a parent, changing careers, or undergoing religious conversion involve experiences that are epistemically transformative, because we cannot know what they are like until we have them, and personally transformative, because they reshape our preferences and identity. Paul shows that standard decision theory fails here, since we cannot assign reliable values to outcomes we cannot comprehend. She proposes rethinking rational choice, emphasizing commitment, trust, and self-shaping over expected utility in human decision making. In this seminar which is part of our research-oriented teaching, we will study Paul's book closely and lay a foundation for a workshop with the author (May 27-29, 2026) at RUB when Laurie Paul presents new work on the topic from her forthcoming book in the context of the Rudolf-Carnap Lectures. The workshop is part of the seminar and students are expected to participate and will have a chance to engage with the author.
Text: L.A. Paul (2024): Transformative Experience. Oxford University Press
Secondary Reading: Rebecca Chan (2023) Transformative Experience (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transformative-experience/) Katie Steele & H. Orri Stefansson (2025) Decision Theory (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/decision-theory/)