Abstract
In a recent paper Winsberg (2021) argues in favor of research into geoengineering by relying on Good's theorem, which states that conducting research maximizes one's expected utility. However, Good's theorem sometimes fails for risk-avoidant agents (Buchak 2010). Since risk-avoidance captures some of the 'precautionary' intuitions that critics of geoengineering share, it is important to see if research into geoengineering would maximize one's utility if risk-avoidance is taken into account. I show that there are further considerations to be taken into account if one wants to conclude that conducting research into geoengineering maximizes utility based on Good's results.
