Locating Values in the Space of Possibilities.
Where do values live in thought? A straightforward answer is that we (or our brains) make decisions using explicit value representations which are our values. Recent work applying reinforcement learning to decision-making and planning suggests that, more specifically, we may represent both the instr...
| Published in: | Philosophy of Science Vol. 92; no. 1; pp. 121 - 141 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Cambridge University Press
Jan2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | Where do values live in thought? A straightforward answer is that we (or our brains) make decisions using explicit value representations which are our values. Recent work applying reinforcement learning to decision-making and planning suggests that, more specifically, we may represent both the instrumental expected value of actions as well as the intrinsic reward of outcomes. In this paper, I argue that identifying value with either of these representations is incomplete. For agents such as humans and other animals, there is another place where reward can be located in thought: the division of the space of possibilities or "state space." |
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