Introduction

Human decisions are conditioned by formidable uncertainty. This puts a great deal of practical pressure on rationality, for there is a felt need for resources to guide decisions under uncertainty. To aid decision-makers in managing severe forms of uncertainty, Chapter 1 presents two resources. One is a highly general concept of plausibility; the other is a form of decision theory based on this concept of plausibility. The chapter anticipates the application of these resources in widely varying fields, including argumentation theory, scientific theory choice, risk management, ethics, law, economics, and epistemology. These applications are carried out in subsequent chapters.