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Rationality

About: Rationality is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 20459 publications have been published within this topic receiving 617787 citations.


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Book
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the problem of order and the assumption of anarchy in the context of world politics, and propose a set of rules to define order in the world.
Abstract: Introduction PART I: Rules 1. Constructivism 2. Law and Language 3. Cognition, Judgement, Culture 4. The Problem of Order PART II: Rule 5. The Presumption of Anarchy 6. Political Society 7. World Politics 8. Rationality and Resources

847 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that although backward induction cannot be applied, and perfect psychological equilibria may not exist, subgame perfect and sequential equilibrium always do exist, and that the payoff to each player depends not only on what every player does but also on what he thinks every player believes, and on what they think they believe others believe.
Abstract: In psychological games the payoff to each player depends not only on what every player does but also on what he thinks every player believes, and on what he thinks they believe others believe, and so on. In equilibrium, beliefs are assumed to correspond to reality. Yet psychological games and psychological equilibria allow one to model belief-dependent emotions such as anger and surprise that are problematic for conventional game theory. We are particularly interested in issues of sequential rationality for psychological games. We show that although backward induction cannot be applied, and “perfect” psychological equilibria may not exist, subgame perfect and sequential equilibria always do exist.

847 citations

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The Problem of Rational Task Construal as discussed by the authors, with R.F. West, W.C. Sa, and W.R. West proposed the notion of rational task construal as a way of conceptualizing rationality.
Abstract: Contents: Preface. Conceptualizing Rationality: Some Preliminaries. Performance Errors and Computational Limitations, With R.F. West.The Inappropriate Norm Argument. The Problem of Rational Task Construal. Dual-Process Theories and Evolutionary Adaptation Versus Normative Rationality. Thinking Dispositions and Decontextualized Reasoning, With R.F. West, W.C. Sa.The Fundamental Computational Bias. Has Human Irrationality Been Empirically Demonstrated?

842 citations

Book
26 Feb 1998
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define perfect rationality as "Beyond Gradient-Climbing" in the theory of rational behaviour, and present a set of games without solutions.
Abstract: Preface to the revised edition Preface and acknowledgements Part I. Perfect Rationality: Beyond Gradient-Climbing: 1. Introduction 2. The locally maximizing machine 3. The globally maximizing machine 4. Strategic behaviour in animals and men 5. Functionalist explanation in sociology Part II. Imperfect Rationality: Ulysses and the Sirens: 1. Introduction 2. Towards a definition 3. Pascal 4. Descartes 5. Inconsistent time preferences 6. Endogenous change of preferences 7. Precommitment in animal behaviour 8. Abdication from power 9. Some conclusions and further questions Part III. Problematic Rationality: Some Unresolved Problems in the Theory of Rational Behaviour: 1. Introduction 2. Games without solutions 3. Lexicographic preferences 4. Subjective probability 5. Maximizing, satisficing and natural selection 6. Traditional behaviour and random behaviour 7. Explaining altruism 8. Inconstancy 9. Paradox 10. And so what Part IV. Irrationality: Contradictions of the Mind: 1. Introduction 2. Hate 3. Love 4. Self-deception References Index.

842 citations

Book
01 Oct 2001
TL;DR: Searle's Rationality in Action as discussed by the authors is an alternative theory of the role of rationality in thought and action, arguing that rationality is possible only where one has a choice among various rational as well as irrational options.
Abstract: The study of rationality and practical reason, or rationality in action, has been central to Western intellectual culture. In this invigorating book, John Searle lays out six claims of what he calls the Classical Model of rationality and shows why they are false. He then presents an alternative theory of the role of rationality in thought and action. A central point of Searle's theory is that only irrational actions are directly caused by beliefs and desires -- for example, the actions of a person in the grip of an obsession or addiction. In most cases of rational action, there is a gap between the motivating desire and the actual decision making. The traditional name for this gap is "freedom of the will." According to Searle, all rational activity presupposes free will. For rationality is possible only where one has a choice among various rational as well as irrational options. Unlike many philosophical tracts, Rationality in Action invites the reader to apply the author's ideas to everyday life. Searle shows, for example, that contrary to the traditional philosophical view, weakness of will is very common. He also points out the absurdity of the claim that rational decision making always starts from a consistent set of desires. Rational decision making, he argues, is often about choosing between conflicting reasons for action. In fact, humans are distinguished by their ability to be rationally motivated by desire-independent reasons for action. Extending his theory of rationality to the self, Searle shows how rational deliberation presupposes an irreducible notion of the self. He also reveals the idea of free will to be essentially a thesis of how the brain works.

840 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023921
20221,963
2021645
2020689
2019682
2018753