UC Irvine

This dissertation aims to naturalize decision theory by creating a model where an agent views herself as both a decision-maker and part of the natural world. The key contribution is a family of formal conditions that identify when an agent views herself as having control. In a slogan, an agent takes herself to control a partition if probability track her desirability. I call this approach a "desirability tracking" account of agency. I argue that this condition provides a place for individual purpose and effort, even for an agent who views herself as part of nature. I show how a desirability tracking approach allows us to chart a nuanced course between both sides of the "deliberation crowds out prediction debate" debate.