Moral Heuristics: Minimax Strategy

In game theory we have different potential strategies which are shown to work in experimental and math settings. One such strategy is called the minimax strategy. Applying this to philosophy we have the Maximin Minimax principle. This post will elaborate on what that is and how it may be applied in a moral context as an example of a moral heuristic. One problem which was noted in my previous post on happiness maximization in relation to utilitarian ethical theory is that while this may sound good in a regulated context it may present problems in an unregulated context. The rule utilitarian is allowed to apply heuristics as a means of regulating the scope of utilitarian actions to within an acceptable spectrum socially.

The Minimax Heuristic

Minimax means, we want to minimize the maximum loses which could occur as a rule. So in the case of utilitarian thinking we may value maximizing happiness but then if it runs into the problem of catastrophic risk we can apply a rule such as minimax so as to make certain possible events so bad that no action can be taken which is not aligned with minimizing those risks. For example existential risks such as the risk of wiping out all life on earth in exchange for happiness for a single life cycle could be deemed too far but we can see for example that a utilitarian only considering their own happiness or the happiness of those currently alive right here right now might not have any reason to restrain from polluting the entire planet because the lives of the not yet born might not have any impact on the current happiness levels of the already born. Climate change in a utilitarian context does not make all that much sense but a lot of theoretical people in the future may suffer from the actions of people today.

The potential for tragedy is real and measurably statistically. In my previous post I mentioned regret minimization and the minimax stategy fits as a regret minimization strategy. In the context of a game if you are a sore loser (you really hate to lose) then you might create a rule which reduces your chances of losing even if you are not taking your best chances to win. Moral heuristics are almost like speed limits when applied in combination with utilitarianism) but the fact that we may need moral heuristics in the first place to deal with a problem such as climate change highlights a weakness in pure utilitarianism even if the DeathNote example from my last post did not hit home.

For those who want a practical visual example and who play chess then you can apply this rule to your chess playing style where you can play the game very conservatively using a very safe opening and very safe moves so as to try to reduce your risks of making a bad move which you can't recover from.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_function
2. http://prejudice.tripod.com/ME30B/minimax_regret.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worst-case_scenario
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimax_theorem
5. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism-rule/

If you liked this topic you may also like: Maximizing Happiness. These topics are inter-related.