Transformative experience

209 Pages·2014·3.392 MB·English

by  Paul, Laurie Ann

TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE

. .  
l a pau l
TR ANSFORMATIVE
EXPERIENCE
1
1
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First Edition published in 2014
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For Kieran

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ia m very grateful for comments and discussion from Marilyn Adams,
Robert Adams, Marcus Arvan, Elizabeth Barnes, Tim Bayne, Helen
Beebee, Gordon Belot, Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Rachael Briggs,
Sarah Broadie, Lara Buchak, John Campbell, Herman Cappelen, David
Chalmers, Ruth Chang, John Collins, Philip A. Cowan, Kenny Easwaran,
Andy Egan, Jordan S. Ellenberg, Owain Evans, Branden Fitelson, Hannah
Ginsborg, Philip Goff, Alison Gopnik, Tom Griffiths, Jennifer Groh,
Alan Hájek, Joe Halpern, Kieran Healy, Jenann Ismael, Jack Knight,
Matt Kotzen, Jonathan Livengood, Tania Lombrozo, Bill Lycan, John
MacFarlane, Rachael V. McKinnon, Christia Mercer, Peter Momtchiloff,
Richard Moran, Sarah Moss, Ram Neta, John Quiggin, Carla Merino
Rajme, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, Jonathan Schaffer, Tamar Schapiro,
Eric Schliesser, Laura Schulz, David Sobel, Cynthia Stark, Sharon Street,
Michael Strevens, Meghan Sullivan, Justin Systma, Josh Tenenbaum,
Jason Turner, Paul Weirich, Caroline West, and J. R. G. Williams.
Special thanks are due to Tyler Doggett for several illuminating con-
versations, and to Richard Pettigrew, Rachael Briggs, and Neil Levy
for reading the entire manuscript and giving me extensive comments.
Research for the book was partly supported by a Fellowship with
the National Humanities Center and by a John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation Fellowship.
I am especially indebted to Kieran Healy, who spent endless hours
patiently debating these ideas with me, and made many suggestions
that, when I had the sense to adopt them, greatly improved the book.

CONTENTS
1. Becoming a Vampire 1
2. Transformative Choice 5
Experience Is the Best Teacher 8
The Normative Standard 19
Subjective Deliberation 24
Transformative Decisions 30
3. Life Choices 52
Sensory Abilities 56
Choosing to Have a Child 71
Temporally Extended Selves 94
4. The Shock of the New 105
Afterword: Decision-making 124
First Personal Choosing 124
The Fundamental Identification Problem 131
Informed Consent 136
Rational Addiction 140
Indeterminate Values 142
Finkish Preferences 148
Imprecise Credences 150
Hierarchical Bayesian Models 159
Unawareness 173
Conclusion: Revelation 177
Bibliography 179
General Index 185
Name Index 189