The Value of Normative Information

ABSTRACT This paper explores the idea that it is instrumentally valuable to learn normative truths. We consider an argument for ‘normative hedging’ based on this principle, and examine the structure of decision-making under moral uncertainty that arises from it. But it also turns out that the value of normative information is inconsistent with the principle that learning empirical truths is instrumentally valuable. Along the way, we develop a unified framework for modeling normative and empirical uncertainty, and we conclude with a brief comment on ‘metanormative regress’.