Value of Rationality

List of contents

• Introduction


• 1: Is Rationality Normative?


• 2: The Beginnings of an Answer


• 3: 'Rationally Ought' Implies 'Can'


• 4: The Pitfalls of 'Reasons'


• 5: Objective and Subjective 'Ought'


• 6: Rationality as a Virtue


• 7: Internalism Re-explained


• 8: Why Does Rationality Matter?


• 9: The Aim of Rationality: Correctness


• Conclusion: Looking Ahead

About the author

After studying at Oxford, King's College London, and Cornell, Ralph Wedgwood taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1995-2002) and at Merton College, Oxford (2002-2011), before taking up his current position at the University of Southern California in 2012. He works principally on ethics and epistemology. His interests in ethics include the history of ethics (especially Plato and Butler) and issues in applied political philosophy (especially relating to same-sex marriage); but most of his work in ethics has focused on metaethics and the theory of rational choice and practical reason. He is the author of The Nature of Normativity (Oxford University Press, 2007), and of about fifty articles in various volumes and philosophy journals.

Summary

Ralph Wedgwood gives a general account of what it is for states of mind and processes of thought to count as rational. Whether you are thinking rationally depends purely on what is going on in your mind, but rational thinking is a means to the goal of getting things right in your thinking, by believing the truth or making good choices.

Additional text

'sophisticated and dense with argument about all the matters it discusses.'

Product details

• Authors: Ralph Wedgwood, Ralph (Professor of Philosophy Wedgwood, Wedgwood Ralph
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.07.2019
• EAN: 9780198845836
• ISBN: 978-0-19-884583-6
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / Mind & Body, PHILOSOPHY / Epistemology, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Humanism, Ethics & moral philosophy, Ethics and moral philosophy, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge