
Why and How We Give and Ask for Reasons
Perspectives from Philosophy and the Sciences
Oxford University Press Inc
Will be published approx. on 17. January 2026
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-19-774508-3 (ISBN)
Description
The social practices and skills for giving, assessing, and responding to reasons play a key role in the constitution of uniquely human conceptual, epistemic, and deliberative powers. It is thus of great interest to explore why and how humans give and ask for reasons. In addition, it is increasingly recognized that an adequate understanding of such questions calls for a multi-perspectival, often dialogical, cross-fertilizing and integrative approach. Current research at the interface of philosophy and the sciences is already yielding new data, explanations, and predictions concerning the origins, purposes, development, and consequences of human discursive practices and skills, but representative overviews of this research are still missing from the literature.
Why and How We Give and Ask for Reasons aims to fill this lacuna by bringing together new essays that approach the topic from integrative perspectives that promise to stimulate future research. The chapter authors include established figures in both philosophy and the sciences, as well as a number of younger scholars. The volume as a whole enables philosophers, cognitive scientists, developmental and comparative psychologists, and evolutionary anthropologists to deepen discussions on the reason-querying accounts of human cognition.
Why and How We Give and Ask for Reasons aims to fill this lacuna by bringing together new essays that approach the topic from integrative perspectives that promise to stimulate future research. The chapter authors include established figures in both philosophy and the sciences, as well as a number of younger scholars. The volume as a whole enables philosophers, cognitive scientists, developmental and comparative psychologists, and evolutionary anthropologists to deepen discussions on the reason-querying accounts of human cognition.
Reviews / Votes
Interpersonal discourse might be conceived, not as the expression of, but as the origin of individual reasoning. Most of the papers in this collection defend some aspect of this conception. The remainder push back against the more extreme forms. The volume breaks new ground in this fundamental debate. * Christopher Gauker, University of Salzburg * This collection, written by both major players and new voices and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, sheds important new light on the individual and social, dialogical/discursive practices involved in giving and asking for reasons. Philosophical, logical, psychological, and evolutionary analyses of the development of human rational capacities and the cost/benefit trade-offs involved in their use offer important new interdisciplinary insights. The social/dialogical origins and functions and evolutionary payoffs of reasoning practices loom large, as does the relationship between the development of the rational capacities employed in reasoning and the normative standing of the reasons so employed. The papers advance contemporary discussions in several challenging directions. Highly recommended! * Harvey Siegel, University of Miami *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
7 b/w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
620 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-774508-3 (9780197745083)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Preston Stovall is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, and the author of The Single-Minded Animal: Shared Intentionality, Normativity, and the Foundations of Discursive Cognition. He works in the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, and metaphysics.
Ladislav Koren is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic and the director of the Language, Mind, Society Center based at this department. His areas of interest include philosophy of cognitive sciences, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of logic, and the philosophy of psychology.
Ladislav Koren is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic and the director of the Language, Mind, Society Center based at this department. His areas of interest include philosophy of cognitive sciences, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of logic, and the philosophy of psychology.
Editor
Assistant ProfessorAssistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Hradec Kralove
Associate ProfessorAssociate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Philosophical Faculty of the University of Hradec Kralove
Content
Introduction
Ladislav Koren
Part I: Social-Epistemological Perspectives
Chapter 1: The Social Practice of Giving and Asking for Reasons
Hilary Kornblith
Chapter 2: Commitment Coordination and the Social Function of Reason-Giving
Jeremy Randel Koons
Chapter 3: Second-Person Normativity
Glenda Satne
Part II: Logical Perspectives
Chapter 4: Reasoning, Reason Relations, and Semantic Content
Robert Brandom
Chapter 5: GOGAR and Logical Theories
Jaroslav Peregrin
Chapter 6: Reasons for Asking
Jared Millson and Mark Risjord
Chapter 7: Rejection as a Mental Act: Model-Theoretic and Proof-Theoretic Varieties
Preston Stovall
Part III: Developmental Perspectives
Chapter 8: Respect for Reasons in Human Development
David Moshman
Chapter 9: Reasoning and Trust: A Developmental Perspective
Bahar Koeymen and Catarina Dutilh Novaes
Chapter 10: Objectivity and the Space of Reasons
Ladislav Koren
Part IV: Evolutionary-Comparative Perspectives
Chapter 11: Ways of Reasoning in Humans and Other Animals
Cathal O'Madagain
Chapter 12: The Evolution of Articulated Reasons: Reasoning as Discursive Niche Construction
Joseph Rouse
Chapter 13: Rationality and Reflection in Human and Non-Human Animals
Giacomo Melis
Chapter 14: A Functionalist Approach to Additive and Transformative Rationality
Yannick Kohl
Ladislav Koren
Part I: Social-Epistemological Perspectives
Chapter 1: The Social Practice of Giving and Asking for Reasons
Hilary Kornblith
Chapter 2: Commitment Coordination and the Social Function of Reason-Giving
Jeremy Randel Koons
Chapter 3: Second-Person Normativity
Glenda Satne
Part II: Logical Perspectives
Chapter 4: Reasoning, Reason Relations, and Semantic Content
Robert Brandom
Chapter 5: GOGAR and Logical Theories
Jaroslav Peregrin
Chapter 6: Reasons for Asking
Jared Millson and Mark Risjord
Chapter 7: Rejection as a Mental Act: Model-Theoretic and Proof-Theoretic Varieties
Preston Stovall
Part III: Developmental Perspectives
Chapter 8: Respect for Reasons in Human Development
David Moshman
Chapter 9: Reasoning and Trust: A Developmental Perspective
Bahar Koeymen and Catarina Dutilh Novaes
Chapter 10: Objectivity and the Space of Reasons
Ladislav Koren
Part IV: Evolutionary-Comparative Perspectives
Chapter 11: Ways of Reasoning in Humans and Other Animals
Cathal O'Madagain
Chapter 12: The Evolution of Articulated Reasons: Reasoning as Discursive Niche Construction
Joseph Rouse
Chapter 13: Rationality and Reflection in Human and Non-Human Animals
Giacomo Melis
Chapter 14: A Functionalist Approach to Additive and Transformative Rationality
Yannick Kohl