Showing papers on "Rationality published in 2019"
[...]
TL;DR: The conceptual and stylistic limits of Undoing the Demos are discussed in this article, where the destructive effects of contemporary neoliberalism, construed largely as an insidious form of rationality rather than simply an economic system, and the hollowing out of democratic political life which has ensued from its ascension are discussed.
Abstract: This review charts the substantive theoretical import, diagnostic utility, as well as the conceptual and stylistic limits of Wendy Brown’s Undoing the Demos. Brown adamantly charts the destructive effects of contemporary neoliberalism, construed largely as an insidious form of rationality rather than simply an economic system, and the hollowing out of democratic political life which has ensued from its ascension. The account of neoliberalism supplied by Undoing the Demos presents an indispensable tool with which to forge modalities of both analysis and resistance yet also contains important limitations which circumscribe some of the book’s utility and gesture toward the need for critical supplement.
728 citations
04 Jun 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a panoramic view of the lens by presenting its assumptions and guiding logic, and discuss the various processes by which elements come together to provide answers to the puzzle of choice.
Abstract: This chapter provides a panoramic view of the lens by presenting its assumptions and guiding logic. It outlines the main structural elements of the framework. The chapter discusses the various processes by which elements come together to provide answers to the puzzle of choice. The chapter addresses limitations of the lens, and proposes an agenda for future research. Multiple Streams (MS) theorizes at the systemic level, and it incorporates an entire system or a separate decision as the unit of analysis. Much like systems theory, it views choice as the collective output formulated by the push and pull of several factors. MS deals with policy making under conditions of ambiguity. Ambiguity refers to "a state of having many ways of thinking about the same circumstances or phenomena". The logic of political manipulation sets MS apart from other lenses, which employ rationality or persuasion. Rationalists assume that individuals are utility-maximizers.
181 citations
15 Mar 2019
TL;DR: It seems almost incredible that so many equally educated, equally sincere compatriots and contemporaries, all drawing from the same limited stock of evidence, should have reached so many totally different conclusions, and always with complete certainty as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Looking back on it, it seems almost incredible that so many equally educated, equally sincere compatriots and contemporaries, all drawing from the same limited stock of evidence, should have reached so many totally different conclusions—and always with complete certainty.
170 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of digital technology in food production has been discussed in the context of precision agriculture, a set of claims about the importance of digital technologies in the field of food production.
Abstract: Recent technological and methodological changes in farming have led to an emerging set of claims about the role of digital technology in food production. Known as precision agriculture, the integra...
95 citations
04 Jun 2019
TL;DR: Theories of social change imply the demise of ethnic competition as discussed by the authors, which is a major contribution of the study of African politics is to document the falseness of this prediction, both empirically and intellectually.
Abstract: Theories of modernization imply the demise of ethnic competition. This is true of sociological theories, in which specific, differentiated, "rational" interests are held to displace generalized, diffuse, "primordial" ties. Despite the predictions of these theories of social change, ethnic competition strongly endures. It is a feature of politics even in the most modern of nation-states. Theories of social change predict the demise of ethnic grouping. A major contribution of the study of African politics is to document the falseness of this prediction. Modernization and ethnic conflict do intersect, both empirically and intellectually. Ethnic groups should be distinguished from tribal groups, and the origins and dynamics of the former should be considered independently of what is known and asserted about traditional political behavior in Africa. Ethnic groups persist largely because of their capacity to extract goods and services from the modern sector and thereby satisfy the demands of their members.
91 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the norm-activation model (NAM) as representatives of rational and moral notions, and examined the relative strengths of the models in explaining visitors' proenvironmental intentions in nature-based destinations.
Abstract: People's pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is commonly recognized as a result of individual rationality or moral considerations. However, the compative roles of rationality and morality in fostering such behavior in the tourism/leisure context remains to be investigated. This paper uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the norm-activation model (NAM) as representatives of rational and moral notions, and examines the relative strengths of the models in explaining visitors' pro-environmental intentions in nature-based destinations. An empirical study was conducted in three natural parks in Hangzhou, China. Local visitors (N = 323) and tourists (N = 231) participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling was adopted. It is found that although both the rational and the moral models could explain the participants' pro-environmental intentions, yet the NAM model was superior, especially in interpreting nonlocal tourist pro-environmental intentions. Recommendations are provided for a more holistic understanding and effective promotion of PEB in nature-based destinations.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the concepts of culture, personality psychology and agency in order to understand how these behavioural factors interact and result in development differentials across cities and regions.
Abstract: Urban and regional development theory is largely rooted in explanations based on the location, agglomeration and organisation of firms, industries and capital. Contemporary economic geography theory, however, is moving towards a (re)turn to addressing the role of human behaviour in determining urban and regional development outcomes. This article focuses on the concepts of culture, personality psychology and agency in order to understand how these behavioural factors interact and result in development differentials across cities and regions. It is proposed that psychocultural behavioural patterns provide a basis for understanding the type and nature of human agency within cities and regions. Furthermore, it is argued that such agency is based on a rationality that is spatially bounded, and intrinsically linked to the nature, source and evolution of institutions and power. It is concluded that the integration of human behavioural aspects into urban and regional development theory offers significant potential for exploring and explaining long-term evolutionary patterns of development.
53 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that accounts of global modernity should understand the linearization of borders as a process related to, but relatively autonomous from processes of state formation and other structures and processes typically associated with modernity.
Abstract: This thesis offers a theoretical analysis of the process by which borders have come to be precise, fixed, mappable, and infinitely thin lines traced over the surface of the earth. I argue that accounts of global modernity should understand the linearization of borders as a process related to, but relatively autonomous from processes of state formation and other structures and processes typically associated with global modernity. In other words, linear borders have their own causes and consequences, which the thesis aims to unpack. The contribution of the thesis lies within debates on the historical origins of modern international relations which often overlook the history of borders through a focus on sovereignty.
The thesis theorizes modern linear borders as an outcome of ‘survey rationality’, drawing on theories of rationalization. Survey rationality is a mode of territorial governance which conceives of the location of predefined borders as a technical and non-political question, and therefore susceptible to measurement and calculation through surveys and other technologies. The central argument of the thesis is that survey rationality on its own is not a natural or necessary part of territorial rule, but must be articulated with other historically particular rationalities in order to be effective in practice. I illustrate this argument historically by examining two such historically particular rationalities: first, the logic of agrarian capitalism in the English colonies of North America, and secondly, the logic of the civilizing mission in the ‘Scramble for Africa’. Finally, I show how international politics are different in a world of formally linearized borders. Linear borders underpin hierarchies by altering the distribution of geographical knowledge resources, for example at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and they contribute to a modular pattern of territorial partition, from Mysore and Poland in the 18th century to Vietnam and Korea in the 20th.
47 citations
Book•
05 Dec 2019TL;DR: The authors argue that behavioral paternalism underestimates the capacity of people to solve their own problems, while overestimating the ability of experts and policymakers to design beneficial interventions, and argue instead for a more inclusive theory of rationality in economic policymaking.
Abstract: The burgeoning field of behavioral economics has produced a new set of justifications for paternalism. This book challenges behavioral paternalism on multiple levels, from the abstract and conceptual to the pragmatic and applied. Behavioral paternalism relies on a needlessly restrictive definition of rational behavior. It neglects nonstandard preferences, experimentation, and self-discovery. It relies on behavioral research that is often incomplete and unreliable. It demands a level of knowledge from policymakers that they cannot reasonably obtain. It assumes a political process largely immune to the effects of ignorance, irrationality, and the influence of special interests and moralists. Overall, behavioral paternalism underestimates the capacity of people to solve their own problems, while overestimating the ability of experts and policymakers to design beneficial interventions. The authors argue instead for a more inclusive theory of rationality in economic policymaking.
43 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the future of collaborative consumption through case studies of the Peerby and MyWheels platforms, which represent new social practices of borrowing and renting, and used the sociological theories of Theodore Schatzki and Randall Collins to analyse the key factors that determine the present and future trajectories of these practices.
43 citations
Book•
04 Jun 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss relativism, rationality, naturalism, relativism and methodological pluralism in naturalism and the challenge of relativism Popper's metamethodological conventionalism and naturalism.
Abstract: Part 1 Relativism: five varieties of cognitive relativism. Part 2 Incommensurability: Kuhn's changing concept of incommensurability (appendix - incommensurability and the indeterminacy of translation Kuhn's ontological relativism taxonomic incommensurability. Part 3 Untranslatability: in defense of untranslatability (appendix - translation and languagehood) incommensurability, translation and understanding. Part 4 Rationality: the problem of rational theory choice judgement and rational theory choice. Part 5 Naturalism: rationality, relativism and methodological pluralism normative naturalism and the challenge of relativism Popper's metamethodological conventionalism and the turn to naturalism.
TL;DR: The authors argued that the question "What should I believe?" is to be answered in the same way as the question 'What should we do?' and proposed the notion of "Equal Treatment" to distinguish what one should believe from what one can get oneself to believe.
Abstract: This paper proposes that the question “What should I believe?” is to be answered in the same way as the question “What should I do?,” a view I call Equal Treatment. After clarifying the relevant sense of “should,” I point out advantages that Equal Treatment has over both simple and subtle evidentialist alternatives, including versions that distinguish what one should believe from what one should get oneself to believe. I then discuss views on which there is a distinctively epistemic sense of should. Next I reply to an objection which alleges that non-evidential considerations cannot serve as reasons for which one believes. I then situate Equal Treatment in a broader theoretical framework, discussing connections to rationality, justification, knowledge, and theoretical versus practical reasoning. Finally, I show how Equal Treatment has important implications for a wide variety of issues, including the status of religious belief, philosophical skepticism, racial profiling and gender stereotyping, and certain issues in psychology, such as depressive realism and positive illusions.
TL;DR: A set of criteria that enables a thorough ethical evaluation of health-promoting nudges is formulates, derived from arguments against nudges, which allegedly disrespect nudgees, and it is shown how the ethical criteria listed are satisfied by most— but not all—nudges in most—but not all)—circumstances.
Abstract: Health-promoting nudges have been put into practice by different agents, in different contexts and with different aims. This article formulates a set of criteria that enables a thorough ethical evaluation of such nudges. As such, it bridges the gap between the abstract, theoretical debates among academics and the actual behavioral interventions being implemented in practice. The criteria are derived from arguments against nudges, which allegedly disrespect nudgees, as these would impose values on nudgees and/or violate their rationality and autonomy. Instead of interpreting these objections as knock-down arguments, I take them as expressing legitimate worries that can often be addressed. I analyze six prototypical nudge cases, such as Google's rearrangement of fridges and the use of defaults in organ donation registration. I show how the ethical criteria listed are satisfied by most-but not all-nudges in most-but not all-circumstances.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assesses crowdinvestors' ability to interpret signals associated with firm and owner attributes, financial stateme, and financial performance in four European equity crowdfunding platforms.
Abstract: Based on observations from four European equity crowdfunding platforms, this study assesses crowdinvestors’ ability to interpret signals associated with firm and owner attributes, financial stateme...
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that consistency and logical closure are inconsistent with each of three further rationality conditions: fallibilism, open-mindedness, and invariance under independent conceptual expansions.
Abstract: There are two ways of representing rational belief: qualitatively as yes-or-no belief, and quantitatively as degrees of belief. Standard rationality conditions are: (i) consistency and logical closure, for qualitative belief, (ii) satisfaction of the probability axioms, for quantitative belief, and (iii) a relationship between qualitative and quantitative beliefs in accordance with the Lockean thesis. In this paper, it is shown that these conditions are inconsistent with each of three further rationality conditions: fallibilism, open-mindedness, and invariance under independent conceptual expansions. Restrictions of the Lockean thesis that have been suggested in the literature cannot remove the inconsistency. In the outlook we discuss two alternative ways of dealing with this problem: restricting conjunctive closure or going for a dual system account.
TL;DR: In this article, a care-sensitive ethics is proposed that focuses on the interconnections between human and nonhuman nature and on affective engagements with the living world and a practical morality is developed that sees the self not as atomized nor as self-optimizing, but as a self in relationship.
Abstract: Corporate engagements with pressing environmental challenges focus on expanding the role of the market, seeking opportunities for growth and developing technologies to manage better environmental resources Such approaches have proved ineffective I suggest that a lack of meaningful response to ecological degradation and climate change is inevitable within a capitalist system underpinned by a logics of appropriation and an instrumental rationality that views the planet as a means to achieve economic ends For ecofeminism, these logics are promulgated through sets of hierarchical and interrelated dualisms which define the human in opposition to the realm of “nature” This has led to the resilience of ecosystems, social reciprocity and care being unvalued or undervalued An ecofeminist, care-sensitive ethics is proposed that focuses on the interconnections between human and nonhuman nature and on affective engagements with the living world A practical morality is developed that sees the self not as atomized nor as self-optimizing, but as a self in relationship Such an ethics is necessary to motivate action to contest capitalism’s binary thinking, evident within corporate environmentalism, which has re-made the web of life in ways that are not conducive to planetary flourishing
TL;DR: Deakin et al. as discussed by the authors explored how knowledge, and especially non-legal expertise, acts as an independent site and locus of transformation, mediating the interaction between law and social phenomena and acting as a catalyst of legal innovation.
Abstract: Over the last forty years, legal theory and policy advice have come to draw heavily from an ‘evolutionary’ jurisprudence that explains legal transformation by drawing inspiration from the theoretical successes of Darwinian natural selection. This project seeks to enrich and critique this tradition using an analytical perspective that emphasizes the material consequences of concepts and ideas. Existing theories of legal evolution depend on a positivist epistemology that strictly distinguishes the objects of social life — interests, institutions, systems — from knowledge about those objects. My dissertation explores how knowledge, and especially non-legal expertise, acts as an independent site and locus of transformation, mediating the interaction between law and social phenomena and acting as a catalyst of legal innovation. Prior work by Simon Deakin has integrated insights from systems theory to show how the interaction between law and economic institutions can only be properly understood by attending to the epistemic frame law uses to interpret economic practice. Using a case study on the impact of ‘law and finance’ literature on World Bank policy advice and, consequentially, on legal reforms adopted by many developing countries between 2000 and the present, I show that such attention to legal knowledge is inadequate. The case points, first, to the contingency of the intellectual tools used to understand legal institutions. Rather than deploying a determinate rationality, private and public actors address legal, economic, and ethical problems using a variety of paradigms: viewpoints are not determined by realities. More fundamentally, the cases suggest that successful paradigms, rather than economic or political realities alone, shape the dynamics of socio-legal change. My conclusions address some normative questions that arise when researchers in a social scientific mode are implicated in the processes they seek to document.
TL;DR: In the last two decades, Kant's name has become closely associated with the "constitutivist" program within metaethics as discussed by the authors. But is Kant best read as pursuing a constitutivist approach to meta-normat...
Abstract: Over the last two decades, Kant’s name has become closely associated with the “constitutivist” program within metaethics.1 But is Kant best read as pursuing a constitutivist approach to meta-normat...
TL;DR: Despite the delegitimation of neoliberal policies in the wake of the disastrous outcomes of structural adjustment throughout Latin America, neoliberal rationality remains deeply embedded in everyda... as discussed by the authors, the authors of this article.
Abstract: Despite the delegitimation of neoliberal policies in the wake of the disastrous outcomes of structural adjustment throughout Latin America, neoliberal rationality remains deeply embedded in everyda...
TL;DR: It is shown that action consists of designing decisions in the unknown and can be organized on the basis of the notion of a decision-driven design path, which is not yet a decision but helps to organize the generation of a better decision-making situation.
Abstract: This study examines how design theory enables us to extend decision-making logic to the "unknown," which often appears as the strange territory beyond the rationality of the decision-maker. We contribute to the foundations of management by making the unknown an actionable notion for the decision-maker. To this end, we build on the pioneering works in "managing in the unknown" and on design theory to systematically characterize rational forms of action to structure the exploration of the unknown from a decision-making perspective. We show that action consists of designing decisions in the unknown and can be organized on the basis of the notion of a "decision-driven design path," which is not yet a decision but helps to organize the generation of a better decision-making situation. Our decision-design model allows us to identify four archetypes of decision-driven design paths. Two involve generating "wishful decisions," either by improvement or by genericity, while the other two involve generating "decision-changing states" by generating a "best-choice hacking state" or an "all-decisions hacking state." These archetypes correspond to forms of collective action characterized by a specific strategy of knowledge acquisition, a specific performance, and specific organizations. In particular, they enable us to discuss the variety of known organizational forms that managers can rely on to explore the unknown. Le Masson, P., Hatchuel, A., Le Glatin, M., and Weil, B. (2018). "Designing decisions in the unknown: towards a generative decision model for management science." European Management Review, To be published, pp.
TL;DR: Geoengineering would mask and reproduce capital's contradictory needs to selfexpand, on the one hand, and maintain a stable climate system on the other. The Plan B frame, which presents geoengine...
Abstract: Geoengineering would mask and reproduce capital’s contradictory needs to self-expand, on the one hand, and maintain a stable climate system, on the other. The Plan B frame, which presents geoengine...
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore complementing worldviews, as sets of values and beliefs, and ethics enriches the interpretation and implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.
Abstract: The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets are an important achievement. They largely reflect the worldview of Modernity, with its emphasis on scientific and planning rationality and emancipatory ideals. This worldview is no longer evident and dominant, and it is time to systematically explore complementing worldviews. Explicit use of worldviews, as sets of values and beliefs, and ethics enriches the interpretation and implementation of the SDGs. This facilitates the engagement of citizens in their real-world diversity and the development of respect for and empathy and cooperation with people holding other values, beliefs and morals. Dialogue around ‘the middle road’ can give guidance to just, fair and sustainable development pathways.
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive review of meta-scientific research with a focus on quantitative political science demonstrates that threats to the credibility of political science findings are systematic and real, yet, the review also shows the discipline's recent progress toward more credible research.
Abstract: Witnessing the ongoing “credibility revolutions” in other disciplines, also political science should engage in meta-scientific introspection. Theoretically, this commentary describes why scientists ¬in academia’s current incentive system work against their self-interest if they prioritize research credibility. Empirically, a comprehensive review of meta-scientific research with a focus on quantitative political science demonstrates that threats to the credibility of political science findings are systematic and real. Yet, the review also shows the discipline’s recent progress toward more credible research. The commentary proposes specific institutional changes to better align individual researcher rationality with the collective good of verifiable, robust, and valid scientific results.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend the Burns and Scapens (BS) and show how prevailing situated rationalities shape the responses to accounting change, and how these rationalities influence the response to accounting changes.
Abstract: Drawing on recent research, which recognises the situated nature of accounting practices, the purpose of this paper is to extend the Burns and Scapens (BS and (2) how prevailing situated rationalities shape the responses to accounting change.
TL;DR: The authors argue that it will be more difficult for the uniquer than for the permissivst to explain why, if your aim is accuracy, you would want to be rational.
Abstract: The inspiration for this paper came from a number of recent arguments against permissivism (the denial of UNIQUENESS): arguments by Horowitz (2014), Dogramaci and Horowitz (forthcoming), Greco and Hedden (forthcoming) and Levinstein (forthcoming). These arguments all take a somewhat different tack, but what they have in common is that they present the permissivist with a challenge: roughly, how can the permissivist explain why, if you’re aiming to be accurate, you’d want to be rational. I won’t respond to these arguments directly. Instead, my aim is to turn the challenge on its head and argue that, in fact, it will be more difficult for the uniquer than for the permissivst to explain why, if your aim is accuracy, you’d want to be rational. Before presenting the argument, I’d like to flag two assumptions that I’ll be making: INTERNALISM: What it is rational for an agent to believe supervenes on her non-factive mental states.
TL;DR: Focusing on the rise of the behavioural sciences within the design and implementation of public policy, the authors introduces the concept of neuroliberalism and suggests that it could offer a creat...
Abstract: Focusing on the rise of the behavioural sciences within the design and implementation of public policy, this paper introduces the concept of neuroliberalism and suggests that it could offer a creat...
TL;DR: This article takes advantage of arguments developed in the philosophical literature, mainly by Habermas, to introduce a framework defining a series of conceptions of rationality, and uses this framework in order to introducing a typology of DA approaches, distinguishing objectivist, conformist, adjustive and reflexive approaches.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the relationship between belief and credence is a central question in epistemology and argue that epistemologists should pay attention to whether they are framing questions in terms of belief or in terms credence.
Abstract: In this paper, I argue that the relationship between belief and credence is a central question in epistemology. This is because the belief-credence relationship has significant implications for a number of current epistemological issues. I focus on five controversies: permissivism, disagreement, pragmatic encroachment, doxastic voluntarism, and the relationship between doxastic attitudes and prudential rationality. I argue that each debate is constrained in particular ways, depending on whether the relevant attitude is belief or credence. This means that (i) epistemologists should pay attention to whether they are framing questions in terms of belief or in terms of credence and (ii) the success or failure of a reductionist project in the belief-credence realm has significant implications for epistemology generally.
01 Jun 2019
TL;DR: The traditional financial paradigm seeks to understand financial markets by using models in which markets are perfect, which includes agents who are "rational" and update their beliefs correctly based on new information as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The traditional financial paradigm seeks to understand financial markets by using models in which markets are perfect, which includes agents who are “rational” and update their beliefs correctly based on new information. By comparison, the new institutional economics approach attempts to provide a more realistic picture of economic processes, even in financial markets, by postulating several market imperfections, including the agents’ limited rationality. In contrast, behavioral finance completely challenges the rationality assumption and aims to improve the understanding of financial markets by assuming that, due to psychological factors, investors’ decisions will contradict the expected utility theory. However, the traditional, new institutional and the behavioral finance models all share one important feature: They are all based on the notion of a representative agent even though this mythological figure is dressed differently. Evolutionary finance suggests a model of portfolio selection and asset price dynamics that is explicitly based on the ideas of investors’ heterogeneity, dynamics and changes, learning and a natural selection of strategies. The paper suggests a systematization of this new approach, which is subsequently used to conduct a state-of-the-art literature survey and an evaluation of evolutionary finance research.
TL;DR: The nudge approach seeks to improve people's decisions through small changes in their choice environments as mentioned in this paper, which often work through psychological mechanisms that deviate from traditional n-grams.
Abstract: The nudge approach seeks to improve people’s decisions through small changes in their choice environments. Nudge policies often work through psychological mechanisms that deviate from traditional n...