Knowledge (XXG)

Discursive dilemma

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20% of people vote 'No' for each question, and everyone else votes 'Yes'. Then each question has an 80% agreement of 'Yes', so the repairs go ahead. However, now consider the situation where the community are asked one question: "Are all three conditions (importance, weather and funds) met?" Now 60% of people disagree with one of these conditions, so only 40% agree on a 'Yes' vote. In this case, the repairs do not go ahead. Thus the road repair team gets different feedback depending on how they poll their community.
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This dilemma results because an actual decision-making procedure might be premise-based or conclusion-based. In a premise-based procedure, the judges decide by voting whether the conditions for liability are met. In a conclusion-based procedure, the judges decide directly whether the defendant should
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Each judge could make consistent (non-contradictory) judgments, and the paradox will still emerge. Most judges could think P is true, and most judges could think Q is true. In this example, that means they would vote that the caretaker probably mowed over the roses, and that the contract did indeed
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Consider a community voting on road repairs asked three questions; the repairs go ahead if all three answers are 'Yes'. The questions are: "Are the roads important?", "Is the weather right for road repair?" and "Are there available funds for repairs?" Imagine that three (non-overlapping) groups of
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To see how, imagine that a three-member court must decide whether someone is liable for a breach of contract. For example, a lawn caretaker is accused of violating a contract not to mow over the land-owner's roses. The jurors must decide which of the following propositions are true:
343:, which endeavors to understand and predict group behaviour. Petitt warns that we need to understand groups because they can be very powerful, can effect greater change, and yet the group as a whole may not have a strong conscience (see 358:. List and Pettit argue that the discursive dilemma can be likewise generalized to a sort of "List–Pettit theorem". Their theorem states that the inconsistencies remain for any aggregation method which meets a few natural conditions. 168:
simply by identifying the majority opinion on multiple questions. This is because contradictory conceptions of a group can emerge depending on the type of questioning that is chosen.
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Pettit believes that the lesson of this paradox is that there is no simple way to aggregate individual opinions into a single, coherent "group entity". These ideas are relevant to
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be liable. In the above formulation, the paradox is that the two procedures do not necessarily lead to the same result; the two procedures can even lead to opposite results.
383:- similar to judgement aggregation in that there are several conflicting beliefs (represented as logical formulae) that have to be combined into a consistent database. 327:. The table above illustrates how majority decisions can contradict (because the judges vote in favor of the premises, and yet reject the conclusion). 323:
At the same time, most judges may think that P and Q are not both true at once. In this example, that means most judges conclude the caretaker is
370:- similar to judgement aggregation in that voters have to decide on several related issues; different in that they vote according to their 351:
is important to sort out, and Petitt insists that groups should have limited rights, and various obligations and checks on their power.
39: 105: 312:. In other words, the judges agree that a defendant should be liable if and only if the two propositions, P and Q, are both true. 86: 58: 43: 455: 270:: the defendant had a contractual obligation not to do that action (i.e. was there a contract not to mow over the roses?); 152:
In general, any decision that is not unanimous can be logically self-contradictory. The theorem is closely related to the
65: 347:). He says we sometimes fail to hold groups (e.g. corporations) responsible because of the difficulties described above. 470: 344: 72: 32: 348: 122:
The same group will offer a majority vote for, as well as against, a plan depending on how the group is polled.
54: 413: 283: 138: 460: 367: 79: 465: 355: 153: 142: 264:: the defendant performed a certain action (i.e. did the caretaker mow over the roses?); 380: 165: 439: 449: 430: 118: 21: 442:: an introduction and bibliography of the discursive dilemma by Christian List 434: 340: 394: 134: 164:
The doctrinal paradox shows it is difficult to construct a model of
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Aggregating Sets of Judgments: Two Impossibility Results Compared
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The discursive dilemma can be seen as a special case of the
286: 316:forbid that action. This suggests the caretaker is 46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 304: 141:. The paradox is that aggregating judgments with 280:Additionally, all judges accept the proposition 8: 145:can result in self-contradictory judgments. 285: 106:Learn how and when to remove this message 408: 406: 374:, rather than according to their beliefs 402: 7: 44:adding citations to reliable sources 14: 305:{\displaystyle C\equiv P\land Q} 20: 414:"Philip Pettit on Group Agency" 31:needs additional citations for 1: 397:, Synthese 140 (2004) 207–235 345:Diffusion of responsibility 487: 276:: the defendant is liable. 393:List, C. and Pettit, P.: 349:Collective responsibility 416:. philosophybites.com. 306: 123: 307: 121: 456:Social choice theory 440:Judgment aggregation 431:Judgment aggregation 284: 139:social choice theory 55:"Discursive dilemma" 40:improve this article 471:Social epistemology 368:Multi-issue voting 302: 235:Majority decision 127:Discursive dilemma 124: 356:Condorcet paradox 254: 253: 154:Condorcet paradox 131:doctrinal paradox 116: 115: 108: 90: 478: 418: 417: 410: 311: 309: 308: 303: 171: 111: 104: 100: 97: 91: 89: 48: 24: 16: 486: 485: 481: 480: 479: 477: 476: 475: 446: 445: 427: 422: 421: 412: 411: 404: 390: 364: 333: 282: 281: 162: 143:majority voting 112: 101: 95: 92: 49: 47: 37: 25: 12: 11: 5: 484: 482: 474: 473: 468: 463: 458: 448: 447: 444: 443: 437: 426: 425:External links 423: 420: 419: 401: 400: 399: 398: 389: 386: 385: 384: 381:Belief merging 378: 363: 360: 332: 329: 301: 298: 295: 292: 289: 278: 277: 271: 265: 252: 251: 246: 241: 236: 232: 231: 228: 225: 222: 218: 217: 214: 211: 208: 204: 203: 200: 197: 194: 190: 189: 184: 179: 174: 166:public opinion 161: 158: 114: 113: 28: 26: 19: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 483: 472: 469: 467: 464: 462: 459: 457: 454: 453: 451: 441: 438: 436: 432: 429: 428: 424: 415: 409: 407: 403: 396: 392: 391: 387: 382: 379: 377: 373: 369: 366: 365: 361: 359: 357: 352: 350: 346: 342: 337: 330: 328: 326: 321: 319: 313: 299: 296: 293: 290: 287: 275: 272: 269: 266: 263: 260: 259: 258: 250: 247: 245: 242: 240: 237: 234: 233: 229: 226: 223: 220: 219: 215: 212: 209: 206: 205: 201: 198: 195: 192: 191: 188: 185: 183: 180: 178: 175: 173: 172: 169: 167: 159: 157: 155: 150: 146: 144: 140: 136: 132: 128: 120: 110: 107: 99: 88: 85: 81: 78: 74: 71: 67: 64: 60: 57: –  56: 52: 51:Find sources: 45: 41: 35: 34: 29:This article 27: 23: 18: 17: 375: 371: 353: 338: 334: 324: 322: 317: 314: 279: 273: 267: 261: 255: 248: 243: 238: 186: 181: 176: 163: 151: 147: 130: 126: 125: 102: 93: 83: 76: 69: 62: 50: 38:Please help 33:verification 30: 372:preferences 331:Explanation 450:Categories 435:PhilPapers 388:References 325:not liable 66:newspapers 461:Paradoxes 341:sociology 297:∧ 291:≡ 187:P & Q 96:June 2024 466:Dilemmas 362:See also 221:Juror 3 207:Juror 2 193:Juror 1 160:Overview 135:paradox 80:scholar 318:liable 82:  75:  68:  61:  53:  133:is a 87:JSTOR 73:books 202:yes 59:news 433:at 320:. 244:yes 239:yes 230:no 224:yes 216:no 213:yes 199:yes 196:yes 137:in 129:or 42:by 452:: 405:^ 249:no 227:no 210:no 156:. 376:. 300:Q 294:P 288:C 274:C 268:Q 262:P 182:Q 177:P 109:) 103:( 98:) 94:( 84:· 77:· 70:· 63:· 36:.

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verification
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"Discursive dilemma"
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paradox
social choice theory
majority voting
Condorcet paradox
public opinion
sociology
Diffusion of responsibility
Collective responsibility
Condorcet paradox
Multi-issue voting
Belief merging
Aggregating Sets of Judgments: Two Impossibility Results Compared


"Philip Pettit on Group Agency"
Judgment aggregation
PhilPapers
Judgment aggregation

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