Rationality, biology and optimality* |
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Authors: | Carolyn Price |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA, UK |
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Abstract: | A historical theory of rational norms claims that, if we are supposed to think rationally, this is because it is biologically
normal for us to do so. The historical theorist is committed to the view that we are supposed to think rationally only if,
in the past, adult humans sometimes thought rationally. I consider whether there is any plausible model of rational norms
that can be adopted by the historical theorist that is compatible with the claim that adult human beings are subject to rational
norms, given certain plausible empirical assumptions about our history and capabilities. I suggest that there is one such
model: this model centres on the idea that a procedure is rational if it has been endorsed (or at least not rejected) by mechanisms
that have the function to ensure that the subject learns to reason in a way that approaches a certain kind of optimality.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | Biology History Learning Normativity Optimality Rationality |
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