'CHOOSER DEPENDANT' PREFERENCES, AND ATTITUDES de se

Abstract

Sen’s 'chooser dependence' of preferences generates issues of indexicality which, we claim, can in fact be reduced to a specification of the content of preferences within a standard approach, by means of Lewis’ theory of attitudes de se. While context sensitivity of preferences can be dealt with by the addition to the outcomes of choice of their relevant mereological contexts, indexical sensitivity requires the content of preferences to include (the nature of) the decision maker him/herself. The result is a naturalistic internalization of preferences, which become object of preference, belief, and action. Keywords: Preferences, utility, choice, attitudes, mereology, properties.