CALL FOR PAPERS

Focus of *Rivista di Filosofia *on *Decision, uncertainty, and the history
of philosophy*
*editors: Vincenzo Crupi and Malvina Ongaro*


From the perspective of intellectual history, decision theory is a very
recent discipline. While having some notable antecedents, its main
developments come from the Twentieth Century. Since then, theories about
rational decision-making have had an enormous impact on economics,
psychology, and philosophy.

Even though concepts like decision and uncertainty may have a short
philosophical lineage, reflections on them can be found throughout the
history of Western philosophy. In Protagoras, Plato claims that wisdom can
be sufficient for virtue, if it takes into full account future sensations –
in contemporary terms, this would support a utility calculus with no
discount rates for the future. Framed in this way, Plato’s view can enter
into modern debates about inter-temporal decisions and biases, just as
these debates can help the scholar who wants to understand classical ideas
about wisdom and virtue. More recently, political philosophy has provided
important material for decision theorists. Nineteenth Century
utilitarianism has found new arguments in Harsanyi’s and Broome’s
formalisations, and social contract approaches to society have been revived
and enriched with game-theoretical models. Finally, a famous example of the
type of contribution that historians can find in decision theory is
provided by Hacking’s (1972) influential formalisation of Pascal’s wager on
the opportunity to believe in God.

Scattered as they may be, examples like these show how a historical
perspective could provide important insights on decision-making to our
modern theorising, just as formal clarity and the interdisciplinary tools
of decision theory can deepen our understanding of crucial aspects in the
history of thought. And yet, the dialogue between these two traditions –
decision theory and history of philosophy – has been no more than casual so
far. This call for papers is intended as a first step to bridge this gap
and allow decision theorists to re-discover historical reflections on
decision, while providing historians with new instruments to interpret
classical debates.

Selected contributions will appear in a dedicated section in *Rivista di
filosofia*, one of the oldest Italian philosophical journals (founded
1909). In addition to theoretically-oriented studies and investigations,
with particular attention to analytic philosophy, Rivista di
filosofia offers reflections and documentation about the status of
philosophy and its relations to scientific thought, its history and
institutions, and its methodologies.


--- Articles can be in English or in Italian and must not exceed 55,000
characters. Further guidelines can be found in the file attached.

--- *Submissions:* Manuscripts to be submitted should be suitable for blind
review and sent to: [log in to unmask]

*--- DEADLINE*:* 30 June 2022*


Link to the call on the journal's website:
https://www.mulino.it/riviste/a/issn/0035-6239/newsitem/304


On behalf of the editors,

Malvina Ongaro
*Università del Piemonte Orientale*

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