Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome | |||
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Rationality, philosophy: rationality is the ability of a being to consciously adapt to a situation due to the generalizations of his experiences. It can also be rational to want to learn something new. See also system, order, creativity, discoveries, evaluation, repetition._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Ruth Millikan on Rationality - Dictionary of Arguments
I 66 Rationality/Bennett/Millikan: it seems as if he should not choose "abbreviations" as a rational human. That is, one must take into account not only positive evidence, but also negative ones. General/formal: e.g. assuming, John believes "Usual": if A then B and also: "Not-(usual: if A-and-not-C, then B)" Rational: would then follow that John would have to believe A) "usual: if A then C" and B) if A and C, then B. Then there are the following possible cases. 1. The only evidence for C comes from that John knows that usually, if A then C. Then he should simply pass from A to B. 2. John has independent ways to believe C due to evidence. And he encounters A, while he already has evidence for not-C. I 67 Then, rationally, he should also believe that not-C and not conclude from A to B. 3. John has independent evidence according to which he could know C, but this time he does not know beforehand whether C. Question: then, in order to be rational, must he first check whether C? Millikan: Let's suppose he needs to do it. Problem: if this again depends solely on the fact that he believes: "Usually if D, then C", etc. Rationality/Millikan: Problem: The more knowledge one acquires, the more he has to strive to be rational at all. Would it not be better for him to refrain from the whole checking process? >Verification, >Confirmation, >Knowledge/Millikan._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Millikan I R. G. Millikan Language, Thought, and Other Biological Categories: New Foundations for Realism Cambridge 1987 Millikan II Ruth Millikan "Varieties of Purposive Behavior", in: Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals, R. W. Mitchell, N. S. Thomspon and H. L. Miles (Eds.) Albany 1997, pp. 189-1967 In Der Geist der Tiere, D Perler/M. Wild, Frankfurt/M. 2005 |