Questions tagged [rationality]
Rationality is the use of reason to find the truth based on facts and to decide how to act to achieve desired goals. Also use this tag for questions regarding any view or intellectual movement which holds rationality in high regard and accepts it as the only legitimate way to get to the truth.
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Is it a fallacy to say that a sane person cannot apply rational thought to the motivations of the insane?
A common argument in today's news is that:
Someone commits a heinous crime by shooting a bunch of people.
Anyone who commits a heinous crime must be insane.
Sane people cannot apply rational thought ...
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Is immorality just irrationality?
If someone acts immorally - assuming some sort of free will - then they are doing so despite it being demonstrably wrong, i.e. it is a mistake as surely as 1+1=3 is a mistake. Doesn't this then give ...
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What impact has Douglas Hofstadter's superrationality had in terms of philosophy?
Superrational decision making is a type of rational decision making in which the players cooperate in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma without coordination, punishment, or magical thinking.
The idea is ...
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When and why do we say that two things are the same?
In a preceeding question I have asked about the foundations of rational reasonning. It seems the concept of identity plays a key role. However "identity" is not observed in the real world: our mind ...
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Is there any prospect for a unified account of rationality?
It is a commonplace that philosophers, psychologists and economists often talk about rational belief or rational behavior, but they seem to mean different things by it. Is this because
(a) there is ...
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What is Kant's argument about the relationship between logic and reason?
At Wikipedia, I read:
Logic arose (see below) from a concern with correctness of argumentation. Modern logicians usually wish to ensure that logic studies just those arguments that arise from ...
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Does determinism prevent rationality?
If hard determinism is true, and our thoughts are merely the results of a causal chain of atomic interactions, are reason and logic illusory?
This matter has likely been discussed in another thread, ...
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Why does Aquinas argue that rationality of the universe points to a creator?
In the Summa, Aquinas, working from an Aristotelian philosophical position, argues that the rationality of the universe points to a creator. If I am correct in interpreting his work, he says that the ...
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Are there any differences between the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions on what constitutes rationality?
I am aware of the way Western philosophers define rationality but I do not know whether Eastern philosophers define it.
Are there any differences between the Eastern and Western philosophical ...
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Does philosophy shed any light on how parties can fruitfully debate without an agreed source of truth?
A hallmark of recent political developments is extreme partisanship, where each side has near total distrust of the other. To exacerbate this situation there has been a breakdown in agreement over ...
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Is desire closed under logical equivalence?
Suppose some person P desires a statement S to hold. Also, S is logically equivalent to S'. Does this mean that P desires S' also? Basically, is desire closed under logical equivalence?
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Is it ever rational to stumble onto the conjunction fallacy in probability?
The conjunction fallacy is the phenomenon where many people believe that the probability of the event (A AND B) is strictly greater than the probability of the event A. It is usually thought of as an ...
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Can it be rational to have beliefs one knows to be inconsistent?
It seems that the answer would be yes, especially when we think about the example of the preface paradox (authors stating in prefaces "the errors that are found herein are mine alone", i.e. believing ...
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Why wouldn't a government be as tainted as ordinary people according to Hobbes?
I have been watching an episode of Total Philosophy, on Hobbes' theory on why we should be governed.
I was now wondering how it could be possible to achieve a just and authoritative government, if ...
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Philosophical framework for avoiding short-term strategies
In business and politics, often decision-makers make decisions that cause short-term gain, but long-term loss. So economically, this might be an unreasonable (lossy) and thus irrational process.
Is ...
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Are there any aspects of science which do not change over time?
I`ve read this artilce about Historicist Theories of Scientific Rationality.
All the theories seem to state that the science is evolving over time, i.e. it changes in cumulative or revolutionary way (...
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Can animals follow logical rules of inference?
I've been trying to recall a thought experiment, which I very vaguely remember to have come across either in Davidson or Dennett, that considers the following scenario: A hound is chasing its quarry ...
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Does rational choice theory stack up against reality?
Rational choice theory has been criticised on the grounds that "consumers are not rational, so doesn't make much sense because utility functions can't model consumer preferences."
But is there actual ...
BlackJack
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Question about Cogito, ergo sum
As far as I know Decartes tried to prove that he existed from the fact that he was thinking.
And he thought this was only proof. My question is following:
-- why is the argument brought up above, ...
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Can something be rational but not logical?
I'm having trouble understanding how something can be rational, logical, or both.
I had understood up to this point that they could be used interchangeably, but now I've been told that that's not ...
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Is one rationally justified in assuming a dominant philosophical position that one has some reasons to doubt?
If one has insufficient reasons for rejecting a dominant philosophical position but sufficient reasons to doubt that the dominant philosophical position is unproblematic, to what extent is one ...
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Can playing lotteries be rational?
Suppose you have to choose between:
a. getting 1$
b. getting a ticket of the lottery L(p) which gives you 1'000'000'000$ with probability p and 0 with probability (1-p), with p such that the expected ...
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Is it wrong to say something is X if it cannot not be X?
I'm having a discussion with someone who thinks that it's a non-sequitur to describe something as X if it's not possible for it to not be X.
Here's an example:
It's wrong to say a chair is amoral, ...
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Which philosophers have considered irrational conviction
It seems a characteristic of humans to be convinced about a matter in the absence of overwhelming evidence, even where logic suggests that are other valid alternative positions to take. We see this in ...
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Why does Newcomb's paradox seem to have different solutions depending on when the choice is made despite determinism?
I believe the Newcomb's paradox is a significant problem in philosophy, since I regard it as a well formulated version of the lazy argument (under certain conditions) with real life implications.
...
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Understanding McDowell's Mind and World
In "Mind and World" John McDowell takes a Sellarsian approach, claiming that the given is a myth. Yet, he says, if I understand him correctly, the space of reasons is not a mere "spinning in the void",...
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What arguments have there been on the relative merits of praxeology vs rationality?
Suppose you know what someone's goals are, and how much they value each of their goals. Then if you observe their behavior in a given situation, how can you understand why they acted the way they did?...
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Hiddenness of God
I have some questions regarding the argument of the Canadian philosopher John Schellenberg (Hiddenness of God) or (nonresistant nonbelief).
See it here: The argument from nonresistant nonbelief
My ...
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Are there writers on the topic of an inherent human bias towards the value of rational thinking?
Some people place humans as 'higher animals' because we are uniquely capable of rational thought, while most other animals are not.
This assumes that the trait of rationality is superior to other ...
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What would Kant say about an irrational person?
I've been reading about Kant and everything I've read so far assumes that as we make ethical decisions we are dealing with a rational person. For example, Kant argued that rational beings can never be ...
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Is atheism or agnosticism more rational?
While there is still widespread disagreement regarding the existing definition of atheism, it is normally considered as the "Rejection of belief in the existence of deities".
One accepted definition ...
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Why does Kierkegaard's pseudonym Johannes De Silentio believe Abraham exemplifies faith?
From Fear and Trembling:
All that time [Abraham] believed--he believed that God would not require
Isaac of him, whereas he was willing nevertheless to sacrifice him if
it was required. He ...
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What would constitute a reasonable expectation of privacy?
To some degree this is presumably a legal question, but my question is really trying to ask about the principle here.
I guess the core question is about what expectations a "reasonable" agent might ...
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What arguments support the idea that rational thinking requires language use?
The idea that rationality has language as a necessary condition might be called, per Brandom, lingualism.
What are the most popular arguments for this position?
Why should we think that the way we ...
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Is it irrational to care more about the last candy in the bag than the others, and if so, does the fallacy have a name?
I have a bag of candies. Someone else asks if they can have one. If the bag is still full, I have no issues, and tell them they are welcome to take one. If there is only one left in the bag, I am much ...
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reductio ad absurdum vs. argument by lack of imagination
A reductio ad absurdum is a correct way to argue. An argument by lack of imagination is an informal fallacy.
But if a reductio ad absurdum is applied outside of a highly formalized setting like ...
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Equal evidence for and against a belief - which to choose?
If there is a belief for which there is an equal amount of evidence both for and against (the evidence is provided by experts in the appropriate field), what is the most rational thing to do in a ...
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What is the point of prayer for theological rationalists?
Of course, there are psychological aspects, you can unify a community or concentrate on your life goals. I feel like Christians try to do something like that when they say that prayer should be a ...
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Is induction as a means to reach a conclusion rational?
According to Humes's argument, induction by its nature assumes a uniformity that is not justified. This is a very deep and interesting observation, and a point often used by the religious to justify ...
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What does rationalism prove that empiricism can not?
I have always had trouble understanding rationalism. I am very unclear as to what a rationalist can prove that an empiricist cannot. Are their any examples of something or a situation being ...
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Are there philosophers who have considered free will for agents who are not considered rational?
The tag for "free-will" currently has the following with my emphasis in bold:
for questions concerning the freedom of choice of rational agents
Are there philosophers who have considered freedom ...
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How could human choices be actually rational?
Theoretically, human could be rational. But how is it possible that human are not influenced by their senses and only proceed with pure reason? Like practically?
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Why are humans risk-averse? [closed]
The economic theory and much of the decision theory are based on the assumption that we are risk-averse creatures; in the sense that we are more sensitive to bad outcomes than the good ones and so ...
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Is it logical to fall in love?
Does logic only apply to certain human situations? For example, is it logical to fall in love?
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How can we decide which view to accept concerning our ultimate justification of our knowledge (Münchhausen trilemma)?
I recently came across the Münchhausen trilemma, which I think helps to explain my question. Basically, according to the trilemma, we have three options for explaining the ultimate justification of ...
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Can a ban on certain words be justified rationally?
In our world there is a notion of political correctness. There are some words which can be considered rude or abusive in themselves, regardless of the thought behind them. However, this seems awkward ...
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Are aesthetic judgments rational?
I was reading this article: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aesthetic-judgment/#1.4
I was thinking that aesthetic judgments are responses that derive from our emotions. So they can be considered ...
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If intelligence maximizes future freedom of action, then are intelligent agents free?
Alex Wissner posits that there is an equation for intelligence:
F = T ∇ Sτ
or:
intelligence is a force, F, that acts so as to maximize future freedom
of action. It acts to maximize future ...
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Given a positive ontological claim X, is not-X the default position?
Given a positive ontological claim X, I see at least four different subjective positions one could adopt regarding X:
I believe that the evidence provides persuasive reason to believe that X is true (...
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Does existentialism rule out the existence of a rational world?
I have no grounding in philosophy, but I have just this minute been reading a few articles about existentialism.
I was confused by its apparent rejection of rationalism. I understand that this ...
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