The Roots of Reason

Philosophical Essays on Rationality, Evolution, and Probability
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
ISBN: 978-0-19-928871-7
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 252 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 135 mm x 203 mm, Gewicht: 297 g

David Papineau presents a controversial view of human reason, portraying it as a normal part of the natural world, and drawing on the empirical sciences to illuminate its workings. In these six interconnected essays he offers a fresh approach to some long-standing problems.

Papineau rejects the contemporary orthodoxy that genuine thought hinges on some species of non-natural normativity. He explores the evolutionary histories of theoretical and practical rationality, indicating ways in which capacities underlying human reasoning have been selected for their biological advantages. He then looks at the connection between decision and probability, explaining how good decisions need to be informed by causal as well as probabilistic facts. Finally he defends the radical view that a satisfactory understanding of decision-making is only possible within a specific interpretation of quantum mechanics.

By placing the subject in its scientific context, Papineau shows how human rationality plays an explicable role in the functioning of the natural world.

Zielgruppe

Scholars and students of the philosophy of psychology, epistemology, cognitive science, decision theory, and evolutionary theory

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Theorie, Psychoanalyse
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Erkenntnistheorie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie Intelligenz, Denken, Problemlösen
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Datenanalyse, Datenverarbeitung
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Preface

- Introduction

- 1: Normativity and Judgement

- 2: The Evolution of Knowledge

- 3: The Evolution of Means-End Reasoning

- 4: Probability as a Guide to Life (co-authored with Helen Beebee)

- 5: Causation as a Guide to Life

- 6: Uncertainty Decisions and the Many-Minds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Über Autor(innen)

David Papineau, Department of Philosophy, King's College London