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Rationality: The Critical View

  • Book
  • © 1987

Overview

Editors:
  1. Joseph Agassi

    1. Tel Aviv University, Jerusalem, Israel
      York University, Toronto, Canada
      London School of Economics, UK

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  2. Ian Charles Jarvie

    1. London School of Economics, UK
      York University, Canada

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Nijhoff International Philosophy Series (NIPS, volume 23)

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Table of contents (29 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-XI
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  2. Rationality in General

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-3
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    2. Seven Desiderata for Rationality

      • Mario Bunge
      Pages 5-15

    3. Arguments for Skepticism

      • Abraham Meidan
      Pages 17-20

    4. Skeptical Rationalism

      • William Berkson
      Pages 21-43

    5. The Sceptic at Bay

      • J. O. Wisdom
      Pages 45-50

    6. Esotericism

      • J. O. Wisdom
      Pages 51-68

    7. Science and the Search for Truth

      • Hans Albert
      Pages 69-82

    8. Rationality and the Problem of Scientific Traditions

      • J. N. Hattiangadi
      Pages 83-104

    9. An Ethic of Cognition

      • Ernest Gellner
      Pages 105-118

    10. Methodological Individualism and Institutional Individualism

      • Joseph Agassi
      Pages 119-150

    11. Epistemology and Politics

      • J. W. N. Watkins
      Pages 151-167

    12. The Concept of Decision

      • David Pole
      Pages 169-179

    13. Galileo’s Knife

      • T. W. Settle
      Pages 181-200

    14. The Objectivity of Criticism of the Arts

      • I. C. Jarvie
      Pages 201-216

    15. What is Literature?

      • Edward Davenport
      Pages 217-226

    16. Utopia and the Architect

      • I. C. Jarvie
      Pages 227-243

  3. Rationality and Criticism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 245-247
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    2. Theories of Rationality

      • Joseph Agassi
      Pages 249-263

    3. Rationality and Problem-Solving

      • John Kekes
      Pages 265-279
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Keywords

About this book

In our papers on the rationality of magic, we distinghuished, for purposes of analysis, three levels of rationality. First and lowest (rationalitYl) the goal­ directed action of an agent with given aims and circumstances, where among his circumstances we included his knowledge and opinions. On this level the magician's treatment of illness by incantation is as rational as any traditional doctor's blood-letting or any modern one's use of anti-biotics. At the second level (rationalitY2) we add the element of rational thinking or thinking which obeys some set of explicit rules, a level which is not found in magic in general, though it is sometimes given to specific details of magical thinking within the magical thought-system. It was the late Sir Edward E. Evans-Pritchard who observed that when considering magic in detail the magician may be as consistent or critical as anyone else; but when considering magic in general, or any system of thought in general, the magician could not be critical or even comprehend the criticism. Evans-Pritchard went even further: he was sceptical as to whether it could be done in a truly consistent manner: one cannot be critical of one's own system, he thought. On this level (rationalitY2) of discussion we have explained (earlier) why we prefer to wed Evans­ Pritchard's view of the magician's capacity for piece-meal rationality to Sir James Frazer's view that magic in general is pseudo-rational because it lacks standards of rational thinking.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Tel Aviv University, Jerusalem, Israel

    Joseph Agassi

  • York University, Toronto, Canada

    Joseph Agassi

  • London School of Economics, UK

    Joseph Agassi, Ian Charles Jarvie

  • York University, Canada

    Ian Charles Jarvie

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Rationality: The Critical View

  • Editors: Joseph Agassi, Ian Charles Jarvie

  • Series Title: Nijhoff International Philosophy Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3491-7

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht 1987

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-90-247-3275-3Published: 30 April 1987

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-247-3455-9Published: 30 April 1987

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-3491-7Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0924-4530

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 480

  • Topics: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Technology

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