 Modern economic theory begins with the observation that human beings like some consequences better than others, even if they only assess those consequences hypothetically. A perfectly rational person, according to the canonical paradigm of synchronic decision making under risk, is one whose comparative assessments of a set of consequences satisfies the recommendation to maximize expected utility. Yet, this recommendation to maximize expected utility presupposes that qualitative comparative judgments of those consequences (i.e., preferences) are structured in such a way (i.e., satisfy specific axioms) so as to admit a mathematical representation that places those objects of comparison on the real number line (i.e., as inequalities of mathematical expectations), ordered from worst to best. This structuring of preference through axioms to admit a numerical representation is the subject of expected utility theory.