The “rationality wars” in psychology: Where they are and where they could go
Inquiry 55 (1):66-81 (2012)
| Abstract | Current psychology of human reasoning is divided into several different approaches. For instance, there is a major dispute over the question whether human beings are able to apply norms of the formal models of rationality such as rules of logic, or probability and decision theory, correctly. While researchers following the “heuristics and biases” approach argue that we deviate systematically from these norms, and so are perhaps deeply irrational, defenders of the “bounded rationality” approach think not only that the evidence for this conclusion is problematic but also that we should not, at least not very often, use formal norms in reasoning. I argue that while the evidence for heuristics and biases is indeed questionable, the bounded rationality approach has its limits too. Most especially, we should not infer that formal norms play no role in a comprehensive theory of rationality. Instead, formal and bounded rules of reasoning might even be connected in a more comprehensive theory of rationality. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Rationality Cognitive Psychology Bounded Rationality Heuristics Probability Theory | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,664 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesThomas Sturm (2008). What Is the Foundation of Norms of Rationality? In Ansgar Beckermann, Holm Tetens & Sven Walter (eds.), Philosophie: Grundlagen und Anwendungen/Philosophy: Foundations and Applications. Mentis.
Gerd Gigerenzer & Thomas Sturm (2012). How (Far) Can Rationality Be Naturalized? Synthese 187 (1):243-268.
Frederic Laville (2000). Foundations of Procedural Rationality: Cognitive Limits and Decision Processes. Economics and Philosophy 16 (1):117-138.
Richard Samuels, Stephen Stich & Michael Bishop (2002). Ending the Rationality Wars: How to Make Disputes About Human Rationality Disappear. In Renee Elio (ed.), Common Sense, Reasoning and Rationality. Oxford University Press.
José Luis Bermúdez (2000). Rationality, Logic, and Fast and Frugal Heuristics. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (5):744-745.
Mauro Maldonato (2007). Undecidable Decisions: Rationality Limits and Decision-Making Heuristics. World Futures 63 (1):28 – 37.
Alfred R. Mele & Piers Rawling (2004). Introduction: Aspects of Rationality. In Alfred R. Mele & Piers Rawling (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Rationality. Oxford University Press.
Robert C. Robinson (2006). Bounded Epistemology. Ssrn Elibrary.
Gerd Gigerenzer (1999). Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart. Oxford University Press.
Fernando Broncano (2000). Reliable Rationality. The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 5:49-59.
Patrick Rysiew (2008). Rationality Disputes – Psychology and Epistemology. Philosophy Compass 3 (6):1153-1176.
Philippe Mongin (2000). Does Optimization Imply Rationality? Synthese 124 (1-2):73 - 111.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-01-18Total downloads58 ( #16,839 of 549,013 )Recent downloads (6 months)4 ( #19,160 of 549,013 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
