ABSTRACT
This is a problem for rational decision theory (compare Newcomb’s Problem, the Prisoners’ Dilemma), which is important for economic theory. Rationality seems to require that our preferences be transitive; that is, if we prefer a to b and b to c, we prefer a to c. We can express this symbolically as: if Pab and Pbc, then Pac. If preference is transitive then it is like height: if a is taller than b and b is taller than c, then a is taller than c. Transitivity is built into the very meaning of ‘taller than’. Despite what has been claimed, this cannot be the case with preference, though, since there is no logical contradiction involved in the example above. But does rationality nevertheless require that preference be transitive?
