The Nature Of Rationality

Download The Nature Of Rationality full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online The Nature Of Rationality ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

The Nature of Rationality

Author : Robert Nozick
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400820839
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Nature of Rationality by : Robert Nozick

Download or read book The Nature of Rationality written by Robert Nozick and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1994-11-29 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Repeatedly and successfully, the celebrated Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick has reached out to a broad audience beyond the confines of his discipline, addressing ethical and social problems that matter to every thoughtful person. Here Nozick continues his search for the connections between philosophy and "ordinary" experience. In the lively and accessible style that his readers have come to expect, he offers a bold theory of rationality, the one characteristic deemed to fix humanity's "specialness." What are principles for? asks Nozick. We could act simply on whim, or maximize our self-interest and recommend that others do the same. As Nozick explores rationality of decision and rationality of belief, he shows how principles actually function in our day-to-day thinking and in our efforts to live peacefully and productively with each other. Throughout, the book combines daring speculations with detailed investigations to portray the nature and status of rationality and the essential role that imagination plays in this singular human aptitude.

Reason and Nature

Author : José Luis Bermúdez
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780199256839
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (568 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Reason and Nature by : José Luis Bermúdez

Download or read book Reason and Nature written by José Luis Bermúdez and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a series of essays nine philosophers and two psychologists address three main themes: the status of norms of rationality; the precise form taken by them; and the role of norms in belief and actions.

Rationality

Author : Nicholas Rescher
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.

The Value of Rationality

Author : Ralph Wedgwood
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').

Media of Reason

Author : Matthias Vogel
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231527756
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Media of Reason by : Matthias Vogel

Download or read book Media of Reason written by Matthias Vogel and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-06 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Matthias Vogel challenges the belief, dominant in contemporary philosophy, that reason is determined solely by our discursive, linguistic abilities as communicative beings. In his view, the medium of language is not the only force of reason. Music, art, and other nonlinguistic forms of communication and understanding are also significant. Introducing an expansive theory of mind that accounts for highly sophisticated, penetrative media, Vogel advances a novel conception of rationality while freeing philosophy from its exclusive attachment to linguistics. Vogel's media of reason treats all kinds of understanding and thought, propositional and nonpropositional, as important to the processes and production of knowledge and thinking. By developing an account of rationality grounded in a new conception of media, he raises the profile of the prelinguistic and nonlinguistic dimensions of rationality and advances the Enlightenment project, buffering it against the postmodern critique that the movement fails to appreciate aesthetic experience. Guided by the work of Jürgen Habermas, Donald Davidson, and a range of media theorists, including Marshall McLuhan, Vogel rebuilds, if he does not remake, the relationship among various forms of media—books, movies, newspapers, the Internet, and television—while offering an original and exciting contribution to media theory.

Natural Law and Practical Rationality

Author : Mark C. Murphy
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.

Rationality and Logic

Author : Robert Hanna
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.

Rationality

Author : Steven Pinker
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

The Limits of Rationality

Author : Karen Schweers Cook
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226742415
Total Pages : 436 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Limits of Rationality by : Karen Schweers Cook

Download or read book The Limits of Rationality written by Karen Schweers Cook and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-10-03 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prevailing economic theory presumes that agents act rationally when they make decisions, striving to maximize the efficient use of their resources. Psychology has repeatedly challenged the rational choice paradigm with persuasive evidence that people do not always make the optimal choice. Yet the paradigm has proven so successful a predictor that its use continues to flourish, fueled by debate across the social sciences over why it works so well. Intended to introduce novices to rational choice theory, this accessible, interdisciplinary book collects writings by leading researchers. The Limits of Rationality illuminates the rational choice paradigm of social and political behavior itself, identifies its limitations, clarifies the nature of current controversies, and offers suggestions for improving current models. In the first section of the book, contributors consider the theoretical foundations of rational choice. Models of rational choice play an important role in providing a standard of human action and the bases for constitutional design, but do they also succeed as explanatory models of behavior? Do empirical failures of these explanatory models constitute a telling condemnation of rational choice theory or do they open new avenues of investigation and theorizing? Emphasizing analyses of norms and institutions, the second and third sections of the book investigate areas in which rational choice theory might be extended in order to provide better models. The contributors evaluate the adequacy of analyses based on neoclassical economics, the potential contributions of game theory and cognitive science, and the consequences for the basic framework when unequal bargaining power and hierarchy are introduced.

Rationality And Nature

Author : Raymond Murphy
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429972822
Total Pages : 413 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Rationality And Nature by : Raymond Murphy

Download or read book Rationality And Nature written by Raymond Murphy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-07 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Divergent beliefs about humanity's relationship to nature collide as the second millenium ends. One belief emphasizes that a distinctive characteristic of humans—reason—enables them to reshape and master nature. Another insists that nature is not so plastic, hence humans must adapt to nature and render development sustainable, or even limit growth. "Social ecology" asserts that environmental problems result from institutional hierarchies and suggests decentralized institutions and egalitarian ethics. According to "deep ecology" such problems originate in cultures assuming only humans are worthwhile, thus it stresses the intrinsic value of nature. Feminists are torn between values based on the equality of men and women and ecofeminist values postulating that women are inherently closer to nature than men. Rationality and Nature critically assesses these conflicting cultural tendencies. Waste has been the forgotten element of political economy. Western society has sophisticated methods of financial accounting but does little to account for the losses—financial and human—of waste. Raymond Murphy proposes in this book a theory of environmental debt as a source of capital accumulation. He develops a model of "environmental classes" that helps us to understand the political and economic basis of conflict over the environment. Environmental degradation did not occur on a vast scale until science and applied science were developed. Are they responsible for it and can they be reoriented toward a more symbiotic relationship with nature? Other ways of bringing about a symbiotic relationship are also explored in this book: compulsion, ecological values, ecological experience, and ecological knowledge.

Minimal Rationality

Author : Christopher Cherniak
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262530873
Total Pages : 180 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (38 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Minimal Rationality by : Christopher Cherniak

Download or read book Minimal Rationality written by Christopher Cherniak and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1990-03-14 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Minimal Rationality, Christopher Cherniak boldly challenges the myth of Man the the Rational Animal and the central role that the "perfectly rational agent" has had in philosophy, psychology, and other cognitive sciences, as well as in economics. His book presents a more realistic theory based on the limits to rationality which can play a similar generative role in the human sciences, and it seeks to determine the minimal rationality an actual agent must possess.

When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People

Author : Steven Nadler
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691220085
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People by : Steven Nadler

Download or read book When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People written by Steven Nadler and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-31 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why the tools of philosophy offer a powerful antidote to today’s epidemic of irrationality There is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. They believe that vaccinations cause autism. They reject the scientific consensus on climate change as a “hoax.” And they blame the spread of COVID-19 on the 5G network or a Chinese cabal. Worse, bad thinking drives bad acting—it even inspired a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol. In this book, Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro argue that the best antidote for bad thinking is the wisdom, insights, and practical skills of philosophy. When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People provides an engaging tour through the basic principles of logic, argument, evidence, and probability that can make all of us more reasonable and responsible citizens. When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People shows how we can more readily spot and avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information; determine whether evidence supports or contradicts an idea; distinguish between merely believing something and knowing it; and much more. In doing so, the book reveals how epistemology, which addresses the nature of belief and knowledge, and ethics, the study of moral principles that should govern our behavior, can reduce bad thinking. Moreover, the book shows why philosophy’s millennia-old advice about how to lead a good, rational, and examined life is essential for escaping our current predicament. In a world in which irrationality has exploded to deadly effect, When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People is a timely and essential guide for a return to reason.

On Myself, and Other, Less Important Subjects

Author : Caspar Hare
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691135311
Total Pages : 142 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (353 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis On Myself, and Other, Less Important Subjects by : Caspar Hare

Download or read book On Myself, and Other, Less Important Subjects written by Caspar Hare and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-02 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author makes a case for "egocentric presentism," a view about the nature of first-person experience. A natural thought about the first-person experience is that "all and only the things of which I am aware are present to me." He goes even further and claims that the thought should instead be that "all and only the things of which I am aware are present." That there is something unique about me and the things of which I am aware. This book represents a new take on an old view, known as solipsism, which maintains that people's experiences give them grounds for believing that they have a special, distinguished place in the world--for example, believing that only they exist or that other people do not have conscious minds like their own. The author maintains that the version of solipsism he argues for is capable of resolving some seemingly intractable philosophical problems--both in metaphysics and ethics--concerning personal identity over time, as well as the tension between self-interest and the greater good.

Reasons Without Persons

Author : Brian Hedden
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.

Rational Causation

Author : Eric Marcus
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674068742
Total Pages : 247 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Rational Causation by : Eric Marcus

Download or read book Rational Causation written by Eric Marcus and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We explain what people think and do by citing their reasons, but how do such explanations work, and what do they tell us about the nature of reality? Contemporary efforts to address these questions are often motivated by the worry that our ordinary conception of rationality contains a kernel of supernaturalism—a ghostly presence that meditates on sensory messages and orchestrates behavior on the basis of its ethereal calculations. In shunning this otherworldly conception, contemporary philosophers have focused on the project of “naturalizing” the mind, viewing it as a kind of machine that converts sensory input and bodily impulse into thought and action. Eric Marcus rejects this choice between physicalism and supernaturalism as false and defends a third way. He argues that philosophers have failed to take seriously the idea that rational explanations postulate a distinctive sort of causation—rational causation. Rational explanations do not reveal the same sorts of causal connections that explanations in the natural sciences do. Rather, rational causation draws on the theoretical and practical inferential abilities of human beings. Marcus defends this position against a wide array of physicalist arguments that have captivated philosophers of mind for decades. Along the way he provides novel views on, for example, the difference between rational and nonrational animals and the distinction between states and events.

Problems of Rationality

Author : Donald Davidson
Publisher : Clarendon Press
ISBN 13 : 0191519235
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Problems of Rationality by : Donald Davidson

Download or read book Problems of Rationality written by Donald Davidson and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 2004-03-25 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Problems of Rationality is the eagerly awaited fourth volume of Donald Davidson's philosophical writings. From the 1960s until his death in August 2003 Davidson was perhaps the most influential figure in English-language philosophy, and his work has had a profound effect upon the discipline. His unified theory of the interpretation of thought, meaning, and action holds that rationality is a necessary condition for both mind and interpretation. Davidson here develops this theory to illuminate value judgements and how we understand them; to investigate what the conditions are for attributing mental states to an object or creature; and to grapple with the problems presented by thoughts and actions which seem to be irrational. Anyone working on knowledge, mind, and language will find these essays essential reading.

Reason and Rationality

Author : Maria Cristina Amoretti
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.