The Nature of Rationality
Nature of Rationality
1st Edition
Published on 29. November 1994
242 pages
978-1-4008-2083-2 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
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Robert Nozick
The Nature of Rationality
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Princeton University Press
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Person
Robert Nozick (1938-2002) was the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard University. Among his works are Philosophical Explanations and The Examined Life. His Anarchy, State, and Utopia won the National Book Award in 1975.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
I How to Do Things with Principles 3
Intellectual Functions 3
Interpersonal Functions 9
Personal Functions 12
Overcoming Temptation 14
Sunk Costs 21
Symbolic Utility 26
Teleological Devices 35
II Decision-Value 41
Newcomb's Problem 41
Prisoner's Dilemma 50
Finer Distinctions: Consequences and Goals 59
III Rational Belief 64
Cognitive Goals 67
Responsiveness to Reasons 71
Rules of Rationality 75
Belief 93
Bias 100
IV Evolutionary Reasons 107
Reasons and Facts 107
Fitness and Function 114
Rationality's Function 119
V Instrumental Rationality and Its Limits 133
Is Instrumental Rationality Enough? 133
Rational Preferences 139
Testability, Interpretation, and Conditionalization 151
Philosophical Heuristics 163
Rationality's Imagination 172
Notes 183
Subject Index 219
Index of Names 224
Introduction
I How to Do Things with Principles 3
Intellectual Functions 3
Interpersonal Functions 9
Personal Functions 12
Overcoming Temptation 14
Sunk Costs 21
Symbolic Utility 26
Teleological Devices 35
II Decision-Value 41
Newcomb's Problem 41
Prisoner's Dilemma 50
Finer Distinctions: Consequences and Goals 59
III Rational Belief 64
Cognitive Goals 67
Responsiveness to Reasons 71
Rules of Rationality 75
Belief 93
Bias 100
IV Evolutionary Reasons 107
Reasons and Facts 107
Fitness and Function 114
Rationality's Function 119
V Instrumental Rationality and Its Limits 133
Is Instrumental Rationality Enough? 133
Rational Preferences 139
Testability, Interpretation, and Conditionalization 151
Philosophical Heuristics 163
Rationality's Imagination 172
Notes 183
Subject Index 219
Index of Names 224
