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.
124
questions
4
votes
11
answers
4k
views
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 ...
- 189
2
votes
2
answers
746
views
Free Will and Rational Thought - Kant
According to http://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/history/ Kant believed in both determinism and rational thought.
Kant subsumed causality and determinism under his idea of Pure Reason. ...
- 163
3
votes
3
answers
1k
views
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 ...
- 242
2
votes
0
answers
106
views
What are the necessary and sufficient constraints on the world-to-mind direction of fit?
A glossary that John MacFarlane keeps defines direction of fit like so:
direction of fit: The direction of the “match” between the world and an intentional state or speech act that is required for ...
- 79
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
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 ...
- 51
2
votes
1
answer
323
views
Buridan's ass (and determinism)
A question was asked here relatively recently about the ability of human's to come up with truly random numbers, and (in my opinion) one can meaningfully ask that same question regarding almost any ...
- 1,881
7
votes
1
answer
267
views
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 ...
- 173
1
vote
1
answer
177
views
Intuition as long term rational thinking
I read this article about intuition (gut feeling?) on wikipedia, and I simply can't get my head over it. Why is intuition considered as "acquiring knowledge without interference or the use of reason". ...
- 167
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Rational irrationality of emotions and simulated annealing
When a colleague of mine stated that "emotions are life's simulated annealing" I found that idea very interesting. In order to explain why let me describe briefly the optimization algorithm known as "...
- 2,015
2
votes
4
answers
358
views
What rationalizations exist for motivation?
We're all just atoms interacting, there is no supernatural, free will is either invalid or an illusion, depending on how it's defined. There is no purpose to our lives, it really makes no difference ...
- 121
1
vote
2
answers
115
views
Does Risk Aversion cause Diminishing Marginal Utility, or vice versa?
Let A be the set of possible states of the world, or possible preferences a person could have. Let G(A) be the set of "gambles" or "lotteries", i.e. the set of probability distributions over A. Then ...
5
votes
2
answers
368
views
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?...
4
votes
4
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 141
4
votes
3
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 43
3
votes
1
answer
194
views
What is this expanded notion of rationality called?
I usually used to take "rational" as meaning "in accordance with reason". Recently however, I read a book on emotional intelligence, where the author implied that certain emotions are "rational". That ...
- 383
4
votes
1
answer
183
views
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 ...
- 9,248
9
votes
1
answer
601
views
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 ...
- 171
5
votes
6
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 384
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
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 ...
10
votes
1
answer
3k
views
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 ...
- 7,091
8
votes
4
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 143
6
votes
1
answer
438
views
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
5
votes
3
answers
279
views
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, ...
- 345
13
votes
7
answers
5k
views
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 ...
- 715