Donald Davidson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198237549
- eISBN:
- 9780191601378
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237545.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Applies Davidson's Unified Theory of thought, meaning, and action to three families of problems involving various aspects of rationality, some degree of which Davidson's theory of radical ...
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Applies Davidson's Unified Theory of thought, meaning, and action to three families of problems involving various aspects of rationality, some degree of which Davidson's theory of radical interpretation attributes to any creature, which can be said to have a mind. These problems are the nature and our understanding of value judgements, the adequacy conditions for attributing mental states to a being, and the problem of irrationality.The first four chapters apply Davidson's thesis that our interpretations of another person's mental states are a source of objectivity to value judgements: such judgements, Davidson argues in this section, are as objective as any judgement about the mind can be. Chs 5 to 10 develop Davidson's Unified Theory for interpreting thought, meaning, and action, the primary concern of this section being the specification of the minimal conditions for attributing mental states to an object or creature. Chs 11 to 14 deal primarily with the problems raised by those cognitive states and actions that seem to violate, in a fundamental way, the constraints of rationality. Since Davidson regards the constraints of rationality to be amongst the necessary conditions for both mind and interpretation, irrational thoughts, and actions pose a particular problem for his Unified Theory. The final four chapters attempt to remove the apparent contradiction.Less
Applies Davidson's Unified Theory of thought, meaning, and action to three families of problems involving various aspects of rationality, some degree of which Davidson's theory of radical interpretation attributes to any creature, which can be said to have a mind. These problems are the nature and our understanding of value judgements, the adequacy conditions for attributing mental states to a being, and the problem of irrationality.
The first four chapters apply Davidson's thesis that our interpretations of another person's mental states are a source of objectivity to value judgements: such judgements, Davidson argues in this section, are as objective as any judgement about the mind can be. Chs 5 to 10 develop Davidson's Unified Theory for interpreting thought, meaning, and action, the primary concern of this section being the specification of the minimal conditions for attributing mental states to an object or creature. Chs 11 to 14 deal primarily with the problems raised by those cognitive states and actions that seem to violate, in a fundamental way, the constraints of rationality. Since Davidson regards the constraints of rationality to be amongst the necessary conditions for both mind and interpretation, irrational thoughts, and actions pose a particular problem for his Unified Theory. The final four chapters attempt to remove the apparent contradiction.
Akeel Bilgrami (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231170802
- eISBN:
- 9780231541015
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231170802.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
What is the character of secularism in countries that were not pervaded by Christianity, such as China, India, and the nations of the Middle East? To what extent is the secular an imposition of ...
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What is the character of secularism in countries that were not pervaded by Christianity, such as China, India, and the nations of the Middle East? To what extent is the secular an imposition of colonial rule? How does secularism comport with local religious cultures in Africa, and how does it work with local forms of power and governance in Latin America? Has modern secularism evolved organically, or is it even necessary, and has it always meant progress? A vital extension of Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, in which he exhaustively chronicled the emergence of secularism in Latin Christendom, this anthology applies Taylor’s findings to secularism’s global migration. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Rajeev Bhargava, Akeel Bilgrami, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Sudipta Kaviraj, Claudio Lomnitz, Alfred Stepan, Charles Taylor, and Peter van der Veer each explore the transformation of Western secularism beyond Europe, and the collection closes with Taylor’s response to each essay. What began as a modern reaction to—as well as a stubborn extension of—Latin Christendom has become a complex export shaped by the world’s religious and political systems. Brilliantly alternating between intellectual and methodological approaches, this volume fosters a greater engagement with the phenomenon across disciplines.Less
What is the character of secularism in countries that were not pervaded by Christianity, such as China, India, and the nations of the Middle East? To what extent is the secular an imposition of colonial rule? How does secularism comport with local religious cultures in Africa, and how does it work with local forms of power and governance in Latin America? Has modern secularism evolved organically, or is it even necessary, and has it always meant progress? A vital extension of Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, in which he exhaustively chronicled the emergence of secularism in Latin Christendom, this anthology applies Taylor’s findings to secularism’s global migration. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Rajeev Bhargava, Akeel Bilgrami, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Sudipta Kaviraj, Claudio Lomnitz, Alfred Stepan, Charles Taylor, and Peter van der Veer each explore the transformation of Western secularism beyond Europe, and the collection closes with Taylor’s response to each essay. What began as a modern reaction to—as well as a stubborn extension of—Latin Christendom has become a complex export shaped by the world’s religious and political systems. Brilliantly alternating between intellectual and methodological approaches, this volume fosters a greater engagement with the phenomenon across disciplines.
Fernando Vega‐Redondo
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198774723
- eISBN:
- 9780191596971
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198774729.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
Generalizes the dynamic approach of Ch. 3 so that it becomes applicable to the modelling of evolutionary processes in socio‐economic environments. It introduces the central notion of payoff ...
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Generalizes the dynamic approach of Ch. 3 so that it becomes applicable to the modelling of evolutionary processes in socio‐economic environments. It introduces the central notion of payoff monotonicity and explores its implications for the evolution of rational behaviour. The main issues are illustrated through examples pertaining to bargaining and cultural (hierarchical) evolution.Less
Generalizes the dynamic approach of Ch. 3 so that it becomes applicable to the modelling of evolutionary processes in socio‐economic environments. It introduces the central notion of payoff monotonicity and explores its implications for the evolution of rational behaviour. The main issues are illustrated through examples pertaining to bargaining and cultural (hierarchical) evolution.
Corina Wagner, Markus Steinbrecher, and Hans Rattinger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199602346
- eISBN:
- 9780191739163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602346.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Comparative Politics
This chapter describes the main explanatory variables (and associated measures) that are employed in subsequent chapters as independent, control, or intervening variables. The chapter presents a ...
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This chapter describes the main explanatory variables (and associated measures) that are employed in subsequent chapters as independent, control, or intervening variables. The chapter presents a typology of explanatory variables based on four main theoretical approaches – cognitive mobilization, ‘hard’ instrumental rationality, ‘soft’ cueing rationality, and affective-identitarian. It shows how these sometimes competing and sometimes complementary theoretical positions can be effectively operationalised in terms of a set of exogenous variables that are employed in subsequent chapters to explain variations both in EU identity, representation and scope, and in EU support and engagement. Both individual level ‘micro’ variables, which measure political attitudes and behaviour, and ‘macro’ variables that describe the diversity of social of political contexts comprising the European Union, are analysed and their variance across Europe examined.Less
This chapter describes the main explanatory variables (and associated measures) that are employed in subsequent chapters as independent, control, or intervening variables. The chapter presents a typology of explanatory variables based on four main theoretical approaches – cognitive mobilization, ‘hard’ instrumental rationality, ‘soft’ cueing rationality, and affective-identitarian. It shows how these sometimes competing and sometimes complementary theoretical positions can be effectively operationalised in terms of a set of exogenous variables that are employed in subsequent chapters to explain variations both in EU identity, representation and scope, and in EU support and engagement. Both individual level ‘micro’ variables, which measure political attitudes and behaviour, and ‘macro’ variables that describe the diversity of social of political contexts comprising the European Union, are analysed and their variance across Europe examined.
Carlo Invernizzi Accetti
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231170789
- eISBN:
- 9780231540377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231170789.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter critically discusses what is likely to be the dominant response to the religious discourse of anti-relativism within the field of contemporary political theory, focusing in particular on ...
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This chapter critically discusses what is likely to be the dominant response to the religious discourse of anti-relativism within the field of contemporary political theory, focusing in particular on the thought of Jurgen Habermas and John Rawls.Less
This chapter critically discusses what is likely to be the dominant response to the religious discourse of anti-relativism within the field of contemporary political theory, focusing in particular on the thought of Jurgen Habermas and John Rawls.
Anne C. Dailey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300188837
- eISBN:
- 9780300190083
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300188837.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This book establishes the vital relevance of contemporary psychoanalysis to law. Our legal system is predicated on the idea that people act rationally and of their own free will. Yet the facts of ...
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This book establishes the vital relevance of contemporary psychoanalysis to law. Our legal system is predicated on the idea that people act rationally and of their own free will. Yet the facts of mental life present a much messier picture. Psychoanalysis draws our attention to the hidden, conflicted, wishful, sometimes self-destructive aspects of our inner selves that can produce inexplicable decision making and irrational behavior. With its detailed portrait of the unconscious, psychoanalysis helps us to answer some of the most puzzling questions in law, such as: Why would an individual confess to a crime she did not commit? What motivates an individual to enter into a prenuptial agreement against his own interest? Why should we prohibit incestuous sexual relations between consenting adults? Why would a victim of domestic violence delay leaving her abuser? What prevents an individual from changing when confronted with evidence of his own racial bias? Delving deep into the complex workings of the unconscious, this book draws on contemporary psychoanalytic ideas to refine and redefine legal theory, rules, and judging. The contemporary psychoanalytic perspective presented here complements much of the research on the mind taking place in the cognitive sciences. At the crossroads of psychology and the law, this book challenges basic legal assumptions about the autonomous, rational actor, offering a nuanced and humane perspective that furthers our legal system’s highest ideals of individual fairness and systemic justice.Less
This book establishes the vital relevance of contemporary psychoanalysis to law. Our legal system is predicated on the idea that people act rationally and of their own free will. Yet the facts of mental life present a much messier picture. Psychoanalysis draws our attention to the hidden, conflicted, wishful, sometimes self-destructive aspects of our inner selves that can produce inexplicable decision making and irrational behavior. With its detailed portrait of the unconscious, psychoanalysis helps us to answer some of the most puzzling questions in law, such as: Why would an individual confess to a crime she did not commit? What motivates an individual to enter into a prenuptial agreement against his own interest? Why should we prohibit incestuous sexual relations between consenting adults? Why would a victim of domestic violence delay leaving her abuser? What prevents an individual from changing when confronted with evidence of his own racial bias? Delving deep into the complex workings of the unconscious, this book draws on contemporary psychoanalytic ideas to refine and redefine legal theory, rules, and judging. The contemporary psychoanalytic perspective presented here complements much of the research on the mind taking place in the cognitive sciences. At the crossroads of psychology and the law, this book challenges basic legal assumptions about the autonomous, rational actor, offering a nuanced and humane perspective that furthers our legal system’s highest ideals of individual fairness and systemic justice.
Christopher Peacocke
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199270729
- eISBN:
- 9780191600944
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199270724.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
In his The Realm of Reason, the author proposes a theory that states the conditions under which a thinker can be said to be entitled to form a given belief. The author's ‘Generalised Rationalism’ is ...
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In his The Realm of Reason, the author proposes a theory that states the conditions under which a thinker can be said to be entitled to form a given belief. The author's ‘Generalised Rationalism’ is based on three principles of rationalism, each framed as a claim about the relation of entitlement. The theory is rationalist in that it holds, against empiricism, that some entitlements are a priori, i.e. justified independently of experience; it is generalised in that it holds that all kinds of content have a component that is a priori. The status of these entitlements as a priori is founded in a particular way in the network of relations between entitlement, understanding, and truth. The author applies his theory in detail to several classical philosophical problems, including the nature of perceptual entitlement, induction, and the status of moral judgements. In the course of these discussions, the author develops a theory of the structure of entitlement and a general theory of the a priori, elaborates on the nature of Generalised Rationalism by juxtaposing it to classical and recent rationalist thought, and elucidates the general implications the truth of his theory has for theories of meaning, reference, and explanation.Less
In his The Realm of Reason, the author proposes a theory that states the conditions under which a thinker can be said to be entitled to form a given belief. The author's ‘Generalised Rationalism’ is based on three principles of rationalism, each framed as a claim about the relation of entitlement. The theory is rationalist in that it holds, against empiricism, that some entitlements are a priori, i.e. justified independently of experience; it is generalised in that it holds that all kinds of content have a component that is a priori. The status of these entitlements as a priori is founded in a particular way in the network of relations between entitlement, understanding, and truth. The author applies his theory in detail to several classical philosophical problems, including the nature of perceptual entitlement, induction, and the status of moral judgements. In the course of these discussions, the author develops a theory of the structure of entitlement and a general theory of the a priori, elaborates on the nature of Generalised Rationalism by juxtaposing it to classical and recent rationalist thought, and elucidates the general implications the truth of his theory has for theories of meaning, reference, and explanation.
Kartik B. Athreya
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262019736
- eISBN:
- 9780262314404
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262019736.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
In the wake of recent events, macroeconomics has come under intense scrutiny, often from non-economists. Yet because macroeconomics is now a highly technical undertaking, it will be very hard for ...
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In the wake of recent events, macroeconomics has come under intense scrutiny, often from non-economists. Yet because macroeconomics is now a highly technical undertaking, it will be very hard for non-specialists on their own to sift through the body of knowledge we have accumulated, or to assess the manner in which we structure inquiries. Unless one finds this satisfactory, and I do not, the profession has some work to do. This book is an attempt to describe, in entirely nontechnical (i.e. plain English) terms, where modern macroeconomics gets its ideas from and how it goes about its business. The target audience is that of thoughtful and curious readers who lack the narrow background or time needed to read either advanced textbooks or articles in academic economics journals.Less
In the wake of recent events, macroeconomics has come under intense scrutiny, often from non-economists. Yet because macroeconomics is now a highly technical undertaking, it will be very hard for non-specialists on their own to sift through the body of knowledge we have accumulated, or to assess the manner in which we structure inquiries. Unless one finds this satisfactory, and I do not, the profession has some work to do. This book is an attempt to describe, in entirely nontechnical (i.e. plain English) terms, where modern macroeconomics gets its ideas from and how it goes about its business. The target audience is that of thoughtful and curious readers who lack the narrow background or time needed to read either advanced textbooks or articles in academic economics journals.
Robyn Klingler-Vidra
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501723377
- eISBN:
- 9781501723384
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501723377.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The Venture Capital State investigates the diffusion of the globally acclaimed Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) policy model. The spread of this model has been ubiquitous, with at least 45 states ...
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The Venture Capital State investigates the diffusion of the globally acclaimed Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) policy model. The spread of this model has been ubiquitous, with at least 45 states across a range of countries, in terms of geography, culture, and size, attempting to build local VC markets. In contrast to the transcendent exuberance for VC, policymakers in each and every state have implemented a distinct set of policies. Even states of similar population and economic sizes that are geographically and culturally proximate, and at comparable levels of industrialization, have not implemented similar policies. This book explains why: policymakers are “contextually rational” in their learning; their context-rooted norms shape preferences, underpinning their distinct valuations of studied models. The normative context of those learning about the policy – how they see themselves and what they deem as locally appropriate – informs their design. Findings are based upon deep investigations of VC policymaking in an East Asian cluster of states: Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. These states’ VC successes reflects their ability to effectively adapt the highly-lauded model for their local context, not their policymakers’ approximation of the Silicon Valley policy model.Less
The Venture Capital State investigates the diffusion of the globally acclaimed Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) policy model. The spread of this model has been ubiquitous, with at least 45 states across a range of countries, in terms of geography, culture, and size, attempting to build local VC markets. In contrast to the transcendent exuberance for VC, policymakers in each and every state have implemented a distinct set of policies. Even states of similar population and economic sizes that are geographically and culturally proximate, and at comparable levels of industrialization, have not implemented similar policies. This book explains why: policymakers are “contextually rational” in their learning; their context-rooted norms shape preferences, underpinning their distinct valuations of studied models. The normative context of those learning about the policy – how they see themselves and what they deem as locally appropriate – informs their design. Findings are based upon deep investigations of VC policymaking in an East Asian cluster of states: Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. These states’ VC successes reflects their ability to effectively adapt the highly-lauded model for their local context, not their policymakers’ approximation of the Silicon Valley policy model.
Jack Snyder
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262028998
- eISBN:
- 9780262326773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028998.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Security Studies
Logically it cannot have been true that each Power benefited from fighting in 1914. Yet, each reached this conclusion in August of that year. Germany and Austria saw the rise of Russian power as ...
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Logically it cannot have been true that each Power benefited from fighting in 1914. Yet, each reached this conclusion in August of that year. Germany and Austria saw the rise of Russian power as forcing their hand. Neither considered a defensive strategy in the West and an early attack on Russia which would have had the advantage of keeping Britain out of the war. France and Russia wanted to make sure they supported each other (as they had not done in a series of prewar crises). The solidity of alliances was thus as important to them as winning the opening battles.Less
Logically it cannot have been true that each Power benefited from fighting in 1914. Yet, each reached this conclusion in August of that year. Germany and Austria saw the rise of Russian power as forcing their hand. Neither considered a defensive strategy in the West and an early attack on Russia which would have had the advantage of keeping Britain out of the war. France and Russia wanted to make sure they supported each other (as they had not done in a series of prewar crises). The solidity of alliances was thus as important to them as winning the opening battles.
Anthony O'Hear
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250043
- eISBN:
- 9780191598111
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250045.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
In morality, self‐consciousness and evolution can pull in different ways. While, as Humphrey has shown, evolution can explain the existence of self‐consciousness and empathy and socio‐biologists have ...
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In morality, self‐consciousness and evolution can pull in different ways. While, as Humphrey has shown, evolution can explain the existence of self‐consciousness and empathy and socio‐biologists have shown how self‐interest can lead to the existence of reciprocal altruism and kin selection, this falls short of genuine morality, which seems to require the possibility of true altruism and self‐sacrifice. Following Sartre we must understand the importance of the reciprocal ’gaze’ of other members of our linguistic community in forming our identity as selves. Hayek has argued that a social evolutionary account, in which those traditional societal practices that are successful persist and flourish, ought to motivate us to favour a form of irrationalism over immediate individual rational reflection. Similarly, Orwell has argued for the powerful motivational effects of traditional and less transparently rational virtues such as patriotism and fidelity. Despite this, however, we ought not to adopt an unquestioning obedience to tradition or to the demands of immediate rationality, but rather, following Edmund Burke, remain both wary of extreme rationalism and aware of the benefits of tradition and of powerful allegiances to our particular countries and communities while continuing to employ rational reflection on our moral standards and practices where appropriate.Less
In morality, self‐consciousness and evolution can pull in different ways. While, as Humphrey has shown, evolution can explain the existence of self‐consciousness and empathy and socio‐biologists have shown how self‐interest can lead to the existence of reciprocal altruism and kin selection, this falls short of genuine morality, which seems to require the possibility of true altruism and self‐sacrifice. Following Sartre we must understand the importance of the reciprocal ’gaze’ of other members of our linguistic community in forming our identity as selves. Hayek has argued that a social evolutionary account, in which those traditional societal practices that are successful persist and flourish, ought to motivate us to favour a form of irrationalism over immediate individual rational reflection. Similarly, Orwell has argued for the powerful motivational effects of traditional and less transparently rational virtues such as patriotism and fidelity. Despite this, however, we ought not to adopt an unquestioning obedience to tradition or to the demands of immediate rationality, but rather, following Edmund Burke, remain both wary of extreme rationalism and aware of the benefits of tradition and of powerful allegiances to our particular countries and communities while continuing to employ rational reflection on our moral standards and practices where appropriate.
A. A. Long
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199245567
- eISBN:
- 9780191597923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199245568.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Epictetus’ philosophy combines rationality, empiricism, and eudaimonism. He refutes scepticism by arguing that this stance involves self‐refutation. He requires his students to recognise that ...
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Epictetus’ philosophy combines rationality, empiricism, and eudaimonism. He refutes scepticism by arguing that this stance involves self‐refutation. He requires his students to recognise that Stoicism requires complete commitment to the wish to live free from error. He divides his curriculum into three stages: ’desires and aversions’, ’appropriate actions’, and ’advanced logic’, emphasizing the need to master the first of these before going on to the others. In his self‐presentation, he distances himself from capitalized Philosophers, much as Plato distances Socrates from the Sophists.Less
Epictetus’ philosophy combines rationality, empiricism, and eudaimonism. He refutes scepticism by arguing that this stance involves self‐refutation. He requires his students to recognise that Stoicism requires complete commitment to the wish to live free from error. He divides his curriculum into three stages: ’desires and aversions’, ’appropriate actions’, and ’advanced logic’, emphasizing the need to master the first of these before going on to the others. In his self‐presentation, he distances himself from capitalized Philosophers, much as Plato distances Socrates from the Sophists.
Caron E. Gentry
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474424806
- eISBN:
- 9781474480574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474424806.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The chapter begins by looking at a feminist conceptualisation of civil disorder as related to gender and the threat of the feminine to public order. Understanding that the feminine is already ...
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The chapter begins by looking at a feminist conceptualisation of civil disorder as related to gender and the threat of the feminine to public order. Understanding that the feminine is already disordered is important, but so is post-colonialism and Queer theory’s arguments that there are other forms of disorder as well. This idea of disorder as a deviation from power structures aligns nicely with ‘epistemic biases,’ which is both introduced and applied to terrorism. The perspective that terrorism is devoid of any rationality and morality are examples of an epistemic bias. Therefore, the rest of the chapter explores rationality and morality in further depth through the New Terrorism thesis and the Westphalian myth, respectively.Less
The chapter begins by looking at a feminist conceptualisation of civil disorder as related to gender and the threat of the feminine to public order. Understanding that the feminine is already disordered is important, but so is post-colonialism and Queer theory’s arguments that there are other forms of disorder as well. This idea of disorder as a deviation from power structures aligns nicely with ‘epistemic biases,’ which is both introduced and applied to terrorism. The perspective that terrorism is devoid of any rationality and morality are examples of an epistemic bias. Therefore, the rest of the chapter explores rationality and morality in further depth through the New Terrorism thesis and the Westphalian myth, respectively.
Caron E. Gentry
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474424806
- eISBN:
- 9781474480574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474424806.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter examines the racialisation and gendering of rationality further. It begins by looking at different conceptualisations of rationality, including ‘bounded’ and ‘think’ rationality. It ...
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This chapter examines the racialisation and gendering of rationality further. It begins by looking at different conceptualisations of rationality, including ‘bounded’ and ‘think’ rationality. It then turns to the the decolonialism literature, noting that as much as social scientists work to approach rationality from a new perspective, it is impossible to erase the gendered, racialised, and heteronormative expectations behind it. Thus, when Terrorism Studies, and notably Critical Terrorism Studies, attempt to rescue ‘terrorist’ actors from earlier claims of irrationality, problems still remain. It still presumes rationality exists and, by not dealing with the problematic discourses behind rationality claims, these discourses are inadvertently reapplied. The chapter then turns to making an important claim that irrationality and radicalisation are synonymous. It looks then at the discourses of radicalisation in counter-terrorism, particularly in two different cases of Prevent Tragedies and the blind spot towards white extremism in the US.Less
This chapter examines the racialisation and gendering of rationality further. It begins by looking at different conceptualisations of rationality, including ‘bounded’ and ‘think’ rationality. It then turns to the the decolonialism literature, noting that as much as social scientists work to approach rationality from a new perspective, it is impossible to erase the gendered, racialised, and heteronormative expectations behind it. Thus, when Terrorism Studies, and notably Critical Terrorism Studies, attempt to rescue ‘terrorist’ actors from earlier claims of irrationality, problems still remain. It still presumes rationality exists and, by not dealing with the problematic discourses behind rationality claims, these discourses are inadvertently reapplied. The chapter then turns to making an important claim that irrationality and radicalisation are synonymous. It looks then at the discourses of radicalisation in counter-terrorism, particularly in two different cases of Prevent Tragedies and the blind spot towards white extremism in the US.
Robyn Klingler-Vidra
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501723377
- eISBN:
- 9781501723384
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501723377.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Chapter Two advances the book’s contextual rationality framework, which builds upon three bodies of scholarship: diffusion, economic rationality and comparative capitalism. It conceptualizes the ...
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Chapter Two advances the book’s contextual rationality framework, which builds upon three bodies of scholarship: diffusion, economic rationality and comparative capitalism. It conceptualizes the norms that are fundamental to the study, and develops how and why the norms impact the design of efforts in the VC policy area. Based upon the conceptualization of how norm affect the learning process, the chapter develops the analytical narratives of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, articulating expectations around what transformations materialize in each state. Together, the cases cover a neoliberal to statist range of norms within East Asia.Less
Chapter Two advances the book’s contextual rationality framework, which builds upon three bodies of scholarship: diffusion, economic rationality and comparative capitalism. It conceptualizes the norms that are fundamental to the study, and develops how and why the norms impact the design of efforts in the VC policy area. Based upon the conceptualization of how norm affect the learning process, the chapter develops the analytical narratives of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, articulating expectations around what transformations materialize in each state. Together, the cases cover a neoliberal to statist range of norms within East Asia.
Keith Stanovich
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195341140
- eISBN:
- 9780199894307
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Models and Architectures
This book attempts to resolve the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science—the debate about how much irrationality to ascribe to human cognition. It shows how the insights of dual-process theory ...
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This book attempts to resolve the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science—the debate about how much irrationality to ascribe to human cognition. It shows how the insights of dual-process theory and evolutionary psychology can be combined to explain why humans are sometimes irrational even though they possess remarkably adaptive cognitive machinery. The book argues that to characterize fully differences in rational thinking, we need to replace dual-process theories with tripartite models of cognition. Using a unique individual differences approach, it shows that the traditional second system (System 2) of dual-process theory must be further divided into the reflective mind and the algorithmic mind. Distinguishing them gives a better appreciation of the significant differences in their key functions: the key function of the reflective mind is to detect the need to interrupt autonomous processing and to begin simulation activities, whereas that of the algorithmic mind is to sustain the processing of decoupled secondary representations in cognitive simulation. The book then uses this algorithmic/reflective distinction to develop a taxonomy of cognitive errors made on tasks in the heuristics and biases literature. It presents the empirical data to show that the tendency to make these thinking errors is not highly related to intelligence. Using a tripartite model of cognition, the book shows how, when both are properly defined, rationality is a more encompassing construct than intelligence, and that IQ tests fail to assess individual differences in rational thought. It then goes on to discuss the types of thinking processes that would be measured if rational thinking were to be assessed as IQ has been.Less
This book attempts to resolve the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science—the debate about how much irrationality to ascribe to human cognition. It shows how the insights of dual-process theory and evolutionary psychology can be combined to explain why humans are sometimes irrational even though they possess remarkably adaptive cognitive machinery. The book argues that to characterize fully differences in rational thinking, we need to replace dual-process theories with tripartite models of cognition. Using a unique individual differences approach, it shows that the traditional second system (System 2) of dual-process theory must be further divided into the reflective mind and the algorithmic mind. Distinguishing them gives a better appreciation of the significant differences in their key functions: the key function of the reflective mind is to detect the need to interrupt autonomous processing and to begin simulation activities, whereas that of the algorithmic mind is to sustain the processing of decoupled secondary representations in cognitive simulation. The book then uses this algorithmic/reflective distinction to develop a taxonomy of cognitive errors made on tasks in the heuristics and biases literature. It presents the empirical data to show that the tendency to make these thinking errors is not highly related to intelligence. Using a tripartite model of cognition, the book shows how, when both are properly defined, rationality is a more encompassing construct than intelligence, and that IQ tests fail to assess individual differences in rational thought. It then goes on to discuss the types of thinking processes that would be measured if rational thinking were to be assessed as IQ has been.
Till Koglin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447345152
- eISBN:
- 9781447345640
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447345152.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter analyses the impact of the spatial dimension further and connect the spatial dimension to a form of rationalisation of transport planning that has been very influential in Swedish ...
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This chapter analyses the impact of the spatial dimension further and connect the spatial dimension to a form of rationalisation of transport planning that has been very influential in Swedish transport planning. The theoretical starting point for this chapter is threefold. First, the chapter builds on the production of space by Lefebvre. Second, the rationalisation of the social sciences (Marcuse and Flyvbjerg) is connected to the development of transport planning as a rational profession. Third, the concept of urban space wars is used to theorise on the effects of this kind of rationalisation (Bauman). Through this theorisation of space and transport planning an entity into the field of the marginalisation of cycling is developed. From that starting point the Swedish transport and urban planning system is analysed. Through the analysis and the connections to the theoretical framework of this chapter it is shown that Swedish transport and urban planning operate on very rational levels that marginalise cycling in many cities around Sweden. Moreover, it is shown that this rational planning has created urban spaces and infrastructures, which marginalise cycling in several ways and make it hard to use the bicycle for transport in everyday urban life in Sweden.Less
This chapter analyses the impact of the spatial dimension further and connect the spatial dimension to a form of rationalisation of transport planning that has been very influential in Swedish transport planning. The theoretical starting point for this chapter is threefold. First, the chapter builds on the production of space by Lefebvre. Second, the rationalisation of the social sciences (Marcuse and Flyvbjerg) is connected to the development of transport planning as a rational profession. Third, the concept of urban space wars is used to theorise on the effects of this kind of rationalisation (Bauman). Through this theorisation of space and transport planning an entity into the field of the marginalisation of cycling is developed. From that starting point the Swedish transport and urban planning system is analysed. Through the analysis and the connections to the theoretical framework of this chapter it is shown that Swedish transport and urban planning operate on very rational levels that marginalise cycling in many cities around Sweden. Moreover, it is shown that this rational planning has created urban spaces and infrastructures, which marginalise cycling in several ways and make it hard to use the bicycle for transport in everyday urban life in Sweden.
Keith E. Stanovich
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195341140
- eISBN:
- 9780199894307
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341140.003.0008
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Models and Architectures
Having sketched out a model of how and when cognitive ability associates with heuristics and biases tasks in Chapters 6 and 7, this chapter uses the model to summarize the empirical findings on the ...
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Having sketched out a model of how and when cognitive ability associates with heuristics and biases tasks in Chapters 6 and 7, this chapter uses the model to summarize the empirical findings on the nature of the relationship between intelligence and rational thought. It argues that the relative dissociation between intelligence and rationality is consistent with the tri-process model sketched in earlier chapters and reinforces the usefulness of that framework. This chapter revisits the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science in light of the findings on individual differences discussed in previous chapters.Less
Having sketched out a model of how and when cognitive ability associates with heuristics and biases tasks in Chapters 6 and 7, this chapter uses the model to summarize the empirical findings on the nature of the relationship between intelligence and rational thought. It argues that the relative dissociation between intelligence and rationality is consistent with the tri-process model sketched in earlier chapters and reinforces the usefulness of that framework. This chapter revisits the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science in light of the findings on individual differences discussed in previous chapters.
Jennifer Laws
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097690
- eISBN:
- 9781526104465
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097690.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
How have the proponents and practitioners of work therapy through time imagined work to benefit the mentally unwell? This chapter explores two common explanations of work therapy that have prevailed ...
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How have the proponents and practitioners of work therapy through time imagined work to benefit the mentally unwell? This chapter explores two common explanations of work therapy that have prevailed throughout the history of psychiatry and related professions: first, the value of work-related tasks in recovering the rational faculties of the mental health patient (the view advanced by moral treatment and made famous by the more critical analyses of Michel Foucault), and second, in what is often referred to as the ‘occupational view’ of the human, the ability of work to reintegrate the person with psychiatric difficulties into the community of human life (one’s ‘species life’, to borrow from Marx). Using case studies from two different points in the history of work therapy (an extract from Samuel Tuke’s iconic manual of moral treatment (1813) and the encounters of a therapeutic gardening programme at the beginning of the twenty-first century), the chapter explores the tensions between these differing views of the therapeutic properties of work – and what might become lost when reason and rationality become the only lenses through which to think about therapeutic occupation.Less
How have the proponents and practitioners of work therapy through time imagined work to benefit the mentally unwell? This chapter explores two common explanations of work therapy that have prevailed throughout the history of psychiatry and related professions: first, the value of work-related tasks in recovering the rational faculties of the mental health patient (the view advanced by moral treatment and made famous by the more critical analyses of Michel Foucault), and second, in what is often referred to as the ‘occupational view’ of the human, the ability of work to reintegrate the person with psychiatric difficulties into the community of human life (one’s ‘species life’, to borrow from Marx). Using case studies from two different points in the history of work therapy (an extract from Samuel Tuke’s iconic manual of moral treatment (1813) and the encounters of a therapeutic gardening programme at the beginning of the twenty-first century), the chapter explores the tensions between these differing views of the therapeutic properties of work – and what might become lost when reason and rationality become the only lenses through which to think about therapeutic occupation.
Filippo Del Lucchese
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474456203
- eISBN:
- 9781474476935
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474456203.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Stoics contribute to the debate on monstrosity forging original intellectual tools to explain imperfection and evil in the framework of a rational cosmos providentially built and guided by a divine ...
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Stoics contribute to the debate on monstrosity forging original intellectual tools to explain imperfection and evil in the framework of a rational cosmos providentially built and guided by a divine principle. The original position developed by Stoics lies on a nominalism that treats all generalisation and universalisation as illusory abstractions of a weak human imagination. Through nominalism, Stoics obliterate the idea of transcendency and think the multiplicity of the material world, with all its imperfections, through the unfolding of a divine rational principle. Such immanency, however, is different from the absolutely material one of atomists. Stoics order the universe according to degrees of perfection, and instead of ruling out qualitative differences (e.g. between good and evil, normal and abnormal, beauty and ugliness), they reintroduce them in a divine and providential structure, teleologically oriented. Monstrosities are thus explained with original and powerful ideas, such as the panspermia (i.e. the origin of the seed from the whole body, and more broadly from the whole genus), the vital forces informing matter, the semina rerum and, more in general, the uniqueness of every being, which Christian thought eventually transforms in the free creation of wonders by God’s omnipotence.Less
Stoics contribute to the debate on monstrosity forging original intellectual tools to explain imperfection and evil in the framework of a rational cosmos providentially built and guided by a divine principle. The original position developed by Stoics lies on a nominalism that treats all generalisation and universalisation as illusory abstractions of a weak human imagination. Through nominalism, Stoics obliterate the idea of transcendency and think the multiplicity of the material world, with all its imperfections, through the unfolding of a divine rational principle. Such immanency, however, is different from the absolutely material one of atomists. Stoics order the universe according to degrees of perfection, and instead of ruling out qualitative differences (e.g. between good and evil, normal and abnormal, beauty and ugliness), they reintroduce them in a divine and providential structure, teleologically oriented. Monstrosities are thus explained with original and powerful ideas, such as the panspermia (i.e. the origin of the seed from the whole body, and more broadly from the whole genus), the vital forces informing matter, the semina rerum and, more in general, the uniqueness of every being, which Christian thought eventually transforms in the free creation of wonders by God’s omnipotence.
