Concept · Foundations

Utility

A numerical measure of how much an outcome is worth to a particular agent, calibrated so that higher numbers always correspond to more preferred outcomes.

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Why it matters

Utility converts money, time, health, and other goods into a single scale that captures what actually matters to the decision maker, including attitudes toward risk.

Where this shows up

Units and lessons using this concept

Following the links will take you to the page where this term is introduced in context.

Units (1)

Decision Theory: Choosing Under UncertaintyStudents learn the logic of rational decision making under risk and uncertainty, including expected value, utility, decision matrices, do…

Lessons (3)

Capstone: Decisions Under Real UncertaintyDecision Theory: Choosing Under Uncertainty Expected Value and Expected UtilityDecision Theory: Choosing Under Uncertainty Sunk Costs, Opportunity Costs, and FramingDecision Theory: Choosing Under Uncertainty

Other concepts in Foundations

A, E, I, O Propositions Accessibility Relation Argument Atomic Statement Authorial Intent Base Rate Bayes Factor Burden of Proof in Interpretation Calibration Cardinality Cartesian Product Categorical Proposition