A Bootstrap Theory of Rationality

Theoria 71 (2):182-199 (2005)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this paper a bootstrap theory of rationality is presented. Such a theory is an attempt to explain how standards of rational inquiry may be rationally revised — without assuming that there are any basic and fixed standards for evaluating such revisions. The general bootstrap idea is briefly presented in the first sections. The main part of the paper consists of a discussion of what normative requirements a bootstrap theory should contain, and a number of requirements on rational revisions are proposed. The final section deals with the question of whether a bootstrap theory is self-referentially coherent.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The Many Facets of the Theory of Rationality.Wolfgang Spohn - 2002 - Croatian Journal of Philosophy 2 (3):249-264.
Evolutionary games without rationality?Martin Bunzl - 2002 - Philosophy of the Social Sciences 32 (3):365-378.
Glymour on evidential relevance.David Christensen - 1983 - Philosophy of Science 50 (3):471-481.
Glymour on bootstrap confirmation of ptolemaic theory.Brad Abernethy - 1987 - Philosophy of Science 54 (3):473-479.
A critique of Habermas' theory of practical rationality.Nader Saiedi - 1987 - Studies in East European Thought 33 (3):251-265.
Humean motivation and Humean rationality.Mark van Roojen - 1995 - Philosophical Studies 79 (1):37-57.
Unifying the requirements of rationality.Andrew Reisner - 2009 - Philosophical Explorations 12 (3):243-260.
On "The Limits of Rationality".Karel Lambert - 1981 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 12 (1):103-104.
Decision Theory and Rationality.José Luis Bermúdez - 2009 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-09-13

Downloads
52 (#271,542)

6 months
1 (#1,027,696)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Jonas Nilsson
Umeå University

References found in this work

Word and Object.Willard Van Orman Quine - 1960 - Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.
The logic of scientific discovery.Karl Raimund Popper - 1934 - New York: Routledge. Edited by Hutchinson Publishing Group.

View all 21 references / Add more references