The Roots of Reason

Philosophical Essays on Rationality, Evolution, and Probability

David Papineau

256 pages, parution le 15/02/2006

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Résumé

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.

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

L'auteur - David Papineau

David Papineau est professeur de philosophie des sciences au King's College de Londres.

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Sommaire

Introduction
Normativity and Judgement
The Evolution of Knowledge
The Evolution of Means-End Reasoning
Probability as a Guide to Life (co-authored with Helen Beebee)
Causation as a Guide to Life
Uncertainty Decisions and the Many-Minds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Oxford University Press
Auteur(s)	David Papineau
Parution	15/02/2006
Nb. de pages	256
Format	13,5 x 20
Couverture	Broché
Poids	295g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780199288717
ISBN13	978-0-19-928871-7