Rationality and the Good

Download Rationality and the Good PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198042639
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality and the Good by : Mark Timmons

Download or read book Rationality and the Good written by Mark Timmons and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-28 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over thirty years, Robert Audi has produced important work in ethics, epistemology, and the theory of action. This volume features thirteen new critical essays on Audi by a distinguished group of authors: Fred Adams, William Alston, Laurence BonJour, Roger Crisp, Elizabeth Fricker, Bernard Gert, Thomas Hurka, Hugh McCann, Al Mele, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Raimo Tuomela, Candace Vogler, and Timothy Williamson. Audi's introductory essay provides a thematic overview interconnecting his views in ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of action. The volume concludes with his comprehensive response essay that yields an illuminating dialog with all his critics and often extends his previous work.

The Value of Rationality

Download The Value of Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198802692
Total Pages : 278 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Value of Rationality by : Ralph Wedgwood

Download or read book The Value of Rationality written by Ralph Wedgwood and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ralph Wedgwood gives a general account of the concept of rationality. The Value of Rationality is designed as the first instalment of a trilogy - to be followed by accounts of the requirements of rationality that apply specifically to beliefs and choices. The central claim of the book is that rationality is a normative concept. This claim is defended against some recent objections. Normative concepts are to be explained in terms of values (not in terms of 'ought' or reasons). Rationality is itself a value: rational thinking is in a certain way better than irrational thinking. Specifically, rationality is an internalist concept: what it is rational for you to think now depends solely on what is now present in your mind. Nonetheless, rationality has an external goal - the goal of thinking correctly, or getting things right in one's thinking. The connection between thinking rationally and thinking correctly is probabilistic: if your thinking is irrational, that is in effect bad news about your thinking's degree of correctness. This account of rationality explains how we should set about giving a theory of what it is for beliefs and choices to be rational. Wedgwood thus unifies practical and theoretical rationality, and reveals the connections between formal accounts of rationality (such as those of formal epistemologists and decision theorists) and the more metaethics-inspired recent discussions of the normativity of rationality. He does so partly by drawing on recent work in the semantics of normative and modal terms (including deontic modals like 'ought').

The Rational Good

Download The Rational Good PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Rational Good by : Leonard Trelawney Hobhouse

Download or read book The Rational Good written by Leonard Trelawney Hobhouse and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Without Good Reason

Download Without Good Reason PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Clarendon Press
ISBN 13 : 019158472X
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Without Good Reason by : Edward Stein

Download or read book Without Good Reason written by Edward Stein and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 1996-01-11 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are humans rational? Various experiments performed over the last several decades have been interpreted as showing that humans are irrational—we make significant and consistent errors in logical reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, similarity judgements, and risk-assessment, to name a few areas. But can these experiments establish human irrationality, or is it a conceptual truth that humans must be rational, as various philosophers have argued? In this book, Edward Stein offers a clear critical account of this debate about rationality in philosophy and cognitive science. He discusses concepts of rationality—the pictures of rationality that the debate centres on—and assesses the empirical evidence used to argue that humans are irrational. He concludes that the question of human rationality must be answered not conceptually but empirically, using the full resources of an advanced cognitive science. Furthermore, he extends this conclusion to argue that empirical considerations are also relevant to the theory of knowledge—in other words, that epistemology should be naturalized.

Rationality and Freedom

Download Rationality and Freedom PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674013513
Total Pages : 756 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (135 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality and Freedom by : Amartya Sen

Download or read book Rationality and Freedom written by Amartya Sen and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2004-03-30 with total page 756 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rationality and freedom are among the most profound and contentious concepts in philosophy and the social sciences. In this, the first of two volumes, Amartya Sen brings clarity and insight to these difficult issues.

Rationality

Download Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 0241380308
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (413 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality by : Steven Pinker

Download or read book Rationality written by Steven Pinker and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 'Punchy, funny and invigorating ... Pinker is the high priest of rationalism' Sunday Times 'If you've ever considered taking drugs to make yourself smarter, read Rationality instead. It's cheaper, more entertaining, and more effective' Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind In the twenty-first century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that discovered vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, quack cures and conspiracy theorizing? In Rationality, Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply an irrational species - cavemen out of time fatally cursed with biases, fallacies and illusions. After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives and set the benchmarks for rationality itself. Instead, he explains, we think in ways that suit the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we have built up over millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, causal inference, and decision-making under uncertainty. These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book - until now. Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with insight and humour, Rationality will enlighten, inspire and empower. 'A terrific book, much-needed for our time' Peter Singer

Reason and Rationality

Download Reason and Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
ISBN 13 : 3110325861
Total Pages : 254 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (13 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reason and Rationality by : Maria Cristina Amoretti

Download or read book Reason and Rationality written by Maria Cristina Amoretti and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reason and rationality represent crucial elements of the self-image of human beings and have unquestionably been among the most debated issues in Western philosophy, dating from ancient Greece, through the Middle Ages, and to the present day. Many words and thoughts have already been spent trying to define the nature and standards of reason and rationality, what they could or ought to be, and under what conditions something can be said to be rational. This volume focuses instead on the relationships of reason and rationality to some relevant specific topics, i.e., science, knowledge, gender, politics, ethics, religion, aesthetics, language, logic, and metaphysics, trying to uncover and clarify both the connections and differences in their various characterisations and uses.

Reasons Without Persons

Download Reasons Without Persons PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198732597
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reasons Without Persons by : Brian Hedden

Download or read book Reasons Without Persons written by Brian Hedden and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brian Hedden defends a radical view about rationality, personal identity, and time. He argues that what it is rational to do should not depend on your past beliefs or actions, which are not part of your current perspective on the world. His impersonal approach holds that what rationality demands of you is solely determined by your evidence.

Rationality and Religious Commitment

Download Rationality and Religious Commitment PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191619523
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality and Religious Commitment by : Robert Audi

Download or read book Rationality and Religious Commitment written by Robert Audi and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2011-09-22 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rationality and Religious Commitment shows how religious commitment can be rational and describes the place of faith in the postmodern world. It portrays religious commitment as far more than accepting doctrines—it is viewed as a kind of life, not just as an embrace of tenets. Faith is conceived as a unique attitude. It is irreducible to belief but closely connected with both belief and conduct, and intimately related to life's moral, political, and aesthetic dimensions. Part One presents an account of rationality as a status attainable by mature religious people—even those with a strongly scientific habit of mind. Part Two describes what it means to have faith, how faith is connected with attitudes, emotions, and conduct, and how religious experience may support it. Part Three turns to religious commitment and moral obligation and to the relation between religion and politics. It shows how ethics and religion can be mutually supportive even though ethics provides standards of conduct independently of theology. It also depicts the integrated life possible for the religiously committed—a life with rewarding interactions between faith and reason, religion and science, and the aesthetic and the spiritual. The book concludes with two major accounts. One explains how moral wrongs and natural disasters are possible under God conceived as having the knowledge, power, and goodness that make such evils so difficult to understand. The other account explores the nature of persons, human and divine, and yields a conception that can sustain a rational theistic worldview even in the contemporary scientific age.

The Social Construction of Rationality

Download The Social Construction of Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1317530764
Total Pages : 217 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Social Construction of Rationality by : Onno Bouwmeester

Download or read book The Social Construction of Rationality written by Onno Bouwmeester and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many different forms of rationality. In current economic discourse the main focus is on instrumental rationality and optimizing, while organization scholars, behavioural economists and policy scientists focus more on bounded rationality and satisficing. The interplay with value rationality or expressive rationality is mainly discussed in philosophy and sociology, but never in an empirical way. This book shows that not one, but three different forms of rationality (subjective, social and instrumental) determine the final outcomes of strategic decisions executed by major organizations. Based on an argumentation analysis of six high-profile public debates, this book adds nuance to the concept of bounded rationality. The chapters show how it is socially constructed, and thus dependent on shared beliefs or knowledge, institutional context and personal interests. Three double case studies investigating the three rationalities illustrate how decision makers and stakeholders discuss the appropriateness of these rationalities for making decisions in different practice contexts. The first touches more on personal concerns, like wearing a niqab or looking at obscene art exposed in a public environment; the second investigates debates on improving the rights and position of specific minorities; and the third is based on the agreement on instrumental reasons for two kinds of investments, but the cost arguments are regarded less relevant when social norms or personal interests are violated. The Social Construction of Rationality is for those who study political economy, economic psychology and public policy, as well as economic theory and philosophy.

The Normativity of Rationality

Download The Normativity of Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198754280
Total Pages : 327 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Normativity of Rationality by : Benjamin Kiesewetter

Download or read book The Normativity of Rationality written by Benjamin Kiesewetter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Benjamin Kiesewetter defends the normativity of rationality by presenting a new solution to the problems that arise from the common assumption that we ought to be rational. Drawing on an extensive and careful assessment of the problems discussed in the literature, Kiesewetter provides a detailed defence of a reason-response conception of rationality, a novel, evidence-relative account of reasons, and an explanation of structural irrationality in terms of theseaccounts.

Rationality and Logic

Download Rationality and Logic PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262263114
Total Pages : 341 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (622 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality and Logic by : Robert Hanna

Download or read book Rationality and Logic written by Robert Hanna and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2009-01-23 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An argument that logic is intrinsically psychological and human psychology is intrinsically logical, and that the connection between human rationality and logic is both constitutive and mutual. In Rationality and Logic, Robert Hanna argues that logic is intrinsically psychological and that human psychology is intrinsically logical. He claims that logic is cognitively constructed by rational animals (including humans) and that rational animals are essentially logical animals. In order to do so, he defends the broadly Kantian thesis that all (and only) rational animals possess an innate cognitive "logic faculty." Hanna's claims challenge the conventional philosophical wisdom that sees logic as a fully formal or "topic-neutral" science irreconcilably separate from the species- or individual-specific focus of empirical psychology.Logic and psychology went their separate ways after attacks by Frege and Husserl on logical psychologism—the explanatory reduction of logic to empirical psychology. Hanna argues, however, that—despite the fact that logical psychologism is false—there is an essential link between logic and psychology. Rational human animals constitute the basic class of cognizers or thinkers studied by cognitive psychology; given the connection between rationality and logic that Hanna claims, it follows that the nature of logic is significantly revealed to us by cognitive psychology. Hanna's proposed "logical cognitivism" has two important consequences: the recognition by logically oriented philosophers that psychologists are their colleagues in the metadiscipline of cognitive science; and radical changes in cognitive science itself. Cognitive science, Hanna argues, is not at bottom a natural science; it is both an objective or truth-oriented science and a normative human science, as is logic itself.

Natural Law and Practical Rationality

Download Natural Law and Practical Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521802291
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (22 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Natural Law and Practical Rationality by : Mark C. Murphy

Download or read book Natural Law and Practical Rationality written by Mark C. Murphy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-06-11 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A defense of a contemporary natural law theory of practical rationality.

Unsettled Thoughts

Download Unsettled Thoughts PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198833717
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Unsettled Thoughts by : Julia Staffel

Download or read book Unsettled Thoughts written by Julia Staffel and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-01-05 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How should thinkers cope with uncertainty? What makes their degrees of belief rational, and how should they reason about uncertain matters? In epistemology, recent research has attempted to answer these questions by developing formal models of ideally rational credences. However, we know from psychological research that perfect rationality is unattainable for human thinkers--and so this raises the question of how rational ideals can apply to human thinkers. A popular reply is that the more a thinker's imperfectly rational credences approximate compliance with norms of ideal rationality, the better. But what exactly does this mean? Why is it better to be less irrational, if we can't ever be completely rational? And what does being closer to ideally rational amount to? If ideal models of rationality are supposed to help us understand the rationality of human, imperfect thinkers, we need answers to these questions. Unsettled Thoughts breaks new ground in the study of rationality in providing these answers: we can explain why it's better to be less irrational, because less irrational degrees of belief are generally more accurate and better at guiding our actions. Moreover, the way in which approximating ideal rationality is beneficial can be made formally precise by using a variety of distance measures that track the benefits of being more rational.

Rationality

Download Rationality PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality by : Nicholas Rescher

Download or read book Rationality written by Nicholas Rescher and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1988 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contending that only a normative theory of rationality can be adequate to the complexities of the subject, this book explains and defends the view that rationality consists of the intelligent pursuit of appropriate objectives. Rescher considers the mechanics, rationale, and rewards of reason, and argues that social scientists who want to present a theory of rationality while avoiding the vexing complexities of normative deliberations must amend their perspective of the rational enterprise.

Rationality in Action

Download Rationality in Action PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262250610
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (56 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Rationality in Action by : John R. Searle

Download or read book Rationality in Action written by John R. Searle and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003-01-24 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of rationality and practical reason, or rationality in action, has been central to Western intellectual culture. In this invigorating book, John Searle lays out six claims of what he calls the Classical Model of rationality and shows why they are false. He then presents an alternative theory of the role of rationality in thought and action. A central point of Searle's theory is that only irrational actions are directly caused by beliefs and desires—for example, the actions of a person in the grip of an obsession or addiction. In most cases of rational action, there is a gap between the motivating desire and the actual decision making. The traditional name for this gap is "freedom of the will." According to Searle, all rational activity presupposes free will. For rationality is possible only where one has a choice among various rational as well as irrational options. Unlike many philosophical tracts, Rationality in Action invites the reader to apply the author's ideas to everyday life. Searle shows, for example, that contrary to the traditional philosophical view, weakness of will is very common. He also points out the absurdity of the claim that rational decision making always starts from a consistent set of desires. Rational decision making, he argues, is often about choosing between conflicting reasons for action. In fact, humans are distinguished by their ability to be rationally motivated by desire-independent reasons for action. Extending his theory of rationality to the self, Searle shows how rational deliberation presupposes an irreducible notion of the self. He also reveals the idea of free will to be essentially a thesis of how the brain works.

Against Empathy

Download Against Empathy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062339354
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (623 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Against Empathy by : Paul Bloom

Download or read book Against Empathy written by Paul Bloom and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Post Best Book of 2016 We often think of our capacity to experience the suffering of others as the ultimate source of goodness. Many of our wisest policy-makers, activists, scientists, and philosophers agree that the only problem with empathy is that we don’t have enough of it. Nothing could be farther from the truth, argues Yale researcher Paul Bloom. In AGAINST EMPATHY, Bloom reveals empathy to be one of the leading motivators of inequality and immorality in society. Far from helping us to improve the lives of others, empathy is a capricious and irrational emotion that appeals to our narrow prejudices. It muddles our judgment and, ironically, often leads to cruelty. We are at our best when we are smart enough not to rely on it, but to draw instead upon a more distanced compassion. Basing his argument on groundbreaking scientific findings, Bloom makes the case that some of the worst decisions made by individuals and nations—who to give money to, when to go to war, how to respond to climate change, and who to imprison—are too often motivated by honest, yet misplaced, emotions. With precision and wit, he demonstrates how empathy distorts our judgment in every aspect of our lives, from philanthropy and charity to the justice system; from medical care and education to parenting and marriage. Without empathy, Bloom insists, our decisions would be clearer, fairer, and—yes—ultimately more moral. Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, AGAINST EMPATHY shows us that, when it comes to both major policy decisions and the choices we make in our everyday lives, limiting our impulse toward empathy is often the most compassionate choice we can make.