'Preference framework' is a very general term meant to cover structurally complicated generalizations of utility functions. A preference framework is a fixed framework that determines or updates what the agent prefers for terminal outcomes. For example, the utility indifference proposal has the agent switching between utility functions and depending on whether a switch is pressed. We can call this meta-system a 'preference framework' to avoid presuming in advance that it embodies a VNM-coherent utility function.