Decisions with Multiple Objectives

By Ralph L. Keeney, Howard Raiffa, Howard Keeney, Ralph L.;Raiffa

Book Overview

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1873 edition. Excerpt: ...but it does not follow that knowledge is not good. It is more needful that I should be a good Christian, than that I should be able to make good shoes. But this, too, is needful for one who is a shoemaker, and his Christianity is to show itself in his earthly calling, and not to be an excuse for unskilfulness therein. And here, too, the case is similar. It is true that knowledge puffs up, that is, superficial knowledge, the appearance of knowledge, where its reality and solidity are wanting; while true knowledge, and earnest genuine research, makes a man humble and modest. For the more we learn, the more we perceive what we owe to others, and the more we know, the more we perceive how little we know. Heal research, moreover, is impossible without self-denial, devotion, and a feeling for truth which will not be ashamed to confess its errors to itself and others. To investigate is a moral labour, and not a mere exercise of the mind. True science cannot be separated from morality, and true morality has always a religious root, even when this is unconfessed. When we investigate, too, we owe our best discoveries to God; our best possessions are a gift from above. When Pythagoras had discovered his famous geometrical theorem concerning the squares of a right-angled triangle, he sacrificed a hecatomb to the gods. And Kepler concluded his famous work on the motion of the planets with hearty thanksgiving to God. The true disciples of science have ever been the pupils of that heavenly wisdom of which St. James says that it is " peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." And does not all knowledge, when we go deeply into it, lead is to God? What Bacon said of philosophy, that " a little inclineth mens minds...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471465100
• ISBN13: 9780471465102
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 569 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent utility and decision theory foundation

This book is a very good foundation of MCDA (Multi Criteria Decision Analysis) with all the mathematical proofs behind the theory. The authors give real life examples on the application of their model and explain the intuition of their methodology. Although the math is a bit advanced, the authors explain step-by-step all the terminology, what makes the theory easily understandable. I have used it as a reference in a course of my M.Sc. in Operations Research and Decisions, but I believe undergraduates can understand it (not without sweating a few drops). Personally, I believe that Keeney's book "Value Focused thinking" is more intuitive and day-to-day oriented, but the bulk of the theory is presented in this earlier book. So if you like math and economics, you should try this book first.

Methodology on preference retrieval implementation

This is a very good book grounded in solid microeconomic theory foundations. It starts with classical micro theory such as preferences and axioms, and it moves on to risky preferences and methods on how to retrieve them by constructing careful experiments. It also discusses the limitations on preference retrieval by such axiomatic methods due to the heuristics and biases that occur in decision making behaviour. However, this book is also useful for non-economists, as it describes decision making theories and applied methods on how to retrieve preferences in fields such as policy and medical sciences. The book's target market is mostly economics/ decision sciences graduate students or those who have achieved a comparable or higher level of their studies/work experience. It has also very instructive real world examples of PhD students running preference retrieval experiments and reporting their results. Good book for those keen on the subject. The 1976 version of the book has won a book prize, hence the assurance of quality. Furthermore, Raiffa is a well established Harvard academic, which further lends credence to the book.