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On confidence as a market virtue Michaela Lobo
- Format:
- Book
- Thesis/Dissertation
- Author/Creator:
- Lobo, Michaela, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Ethics.
- Philosophy.
- Metaphysics.
- 0394.
- 0422.
- 0396.
- Local Subjects:
- Ethics.
- Philosophy.
- Metaphysics.
- 0394.
- 0422.
- 0396.
- Genre:
- Academic theses
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (115 pages)
- Contained In:
- Dissertations Abstracts International 87-12A
- Place of Publication:
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 2026
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- Overconfidence and underconfidence have troubled empirical scholars and business practitioners for decades, yet business ethicists and philosophers have not paid them much attention. Overall, it seems to matter that we get it right with our confidence. This dissertation attempts to rectify this lapse by developing a philosophical account of confidence. Taking as a starting point scholars who conceive of confidence as a character trait, I analyse what we mean when we say we are confident, when we are right to continue being confident, and whether it is good to be overconfident. The first essay develops an account of confidence as a virtue governing how agents form, sustain, and act on beliefs about performance, where those beliefs-and their behavioural expression-result from reasoning from well-calibrated epistemic parameters. The second essay examines when and where one should be confident, arguing that while strict evidentialist and pragmatic accounts capture important features of our practices, they fail to explain a distinctive class of cases in which agents may justifiably remain confident despite setbacks. I argue that, in cases involving noble ends, part of the justification for continued confidence can be located in the value of the end itself. The third essay considers whether market actors should be overconfident, engaging with Mandevillian arguments that individual vices can lead to group virtues. I argue that these arguments fail to establish either that individual vices produce collective benefits or that individuals should cultivate such vices. Taken together, the essays are a start toward understanding confidence as a market virtue and show why getting confidence right-philosophically and empirically-matters for how agents navigate uncertainty in markets
- Notes:
- Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-12, Section: A.
- Advisors: Berkey, Brian Committee members: Donaldson, Thomas; Sepinwall, Amy J.; Lord, Errol; Schweitzer, Maurice
- Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2026
- Vendor supplied data
- Local Notes:
- School code: 0175
- ISBN:
- 9798247973638
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license
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