Procedurally rational decision-making and control

Substantive rationality requires a decision-maker to be a utility maximizer; under this paradigm, the decision is paramount, and not dependent on the computational process used to obtain it. Procedural rationality is dependent on the method used to make the decision; reasonableness of the procedure is paramount. We explore the thesis that there are rational alternatives to the extreme notions of optimal control on the one hand, and ad hoc control based on imprecise or vague notions of desirability on the other. We first establish criteria for a control synthesis procedure to be rational. We then present a principle-based synthesis procedure applicable to ill-formed control problems.