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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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Journal ArticleDOI
17 Jul 2015-Science
TL;DR: This work charts advances over the past several decades that address challenges of perception and action under uncertainty through the lens of computation to identify decisions with highest expected utility, while taking into consideration the costs of computation in complex real-world problems in which most relevant calculations can only be approximated.
Abstract: After growing up together, and mostly growing apart in the second half of the 20th century, the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive science, and neuroscience are reconverging on a shared view of the computational foundations of intelligence that promotes valuable cross-disciplinary exchanges on questions, methods, and results. We chart advances over the past several decades that address challenges of perception and action under uncertainty through the lens of computation. Advances include the development of representations and inferential procedures for large-scale probabilistic inference and machinery for enabling reflection and decisions about tradeoffs in effort, precision, and timeliness of computations. These tools are deployed toward the goal of computational rationality: identifying decisions with highest expected utility, while taking into consideration the costs of computation in complex real-world problems in which most relevant calculations can only be approximated. We highlight key concepts with examples that show the potential for interchange between computer science, cognitive science, and neuroscience.

500 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Adler explores the theoretical implications of the logic of practicality in world politics and develops a theory of practice of security communities arguing that peace exists in and through practice when security officials' practical sense makes diplomacy the self-evident way to solving interstate disputes.
Abstract: This article explores the theoretical implications of the logic of practicality in world politics In social and political life, many practices do not primarily derive from instrumental rationality (logic of consequences), norm-following (logic of appropriateness), or communicative action (logic of arguing) These three logics of social action suffer from a representational bias in that they focus on what agents think about instead of what they think from According to the logic of practicality, practices are the result of inarticulate know-how that makes what is to be done self-evident or commonsensical Insights from philosophy, psychology, and sociology provide empirical and theoretical support for this view Though complementary with other logics of social action, the logic of practicality is ontologically prior because it is located at the intersection of structure and agency Building on Bourdieu, this article develops a theory of practice of security communities arguing that peace exists in and through practice when security officials' practical sense makes diplomacy the self-evident way to solving interstate disputes The article concludes on the methodological quandaries raised by the logic of practicality in world politics For helpful comments on earlier versions of this article, many thanks to Emanuel Adler, Janice Bially Mattern, Raymond Duvall, Stefano Guzzini, Jef Huysmans, Markus Kornprobst, Jennifer Mitzen, Iver Neumann, Daniel Nexon, David Welch, Alexander Wendt, and Michael Williams, as well as the journal's reviewers

499 citations

Book
08 Mar 1994
TL;DR: In this article, Rips describes a unified theory of natural deductive reasoning and fashions a working model of deduction, with strong experimental support, that is capable of playing a central role in mental life.
Abstract: In this provocative book, Lance Rips describes a unified theory of natural deductive reasoning and fashions a working model of deduction, with strong experimental support, that is capable of playing a central role in mental life. Rips argues that certain inference principles are so central to our notion of intelligence and rationality that they deserve serious psychological investigation to determine their role in individuals' beliefs and conjectures. Asserting that cognitive scientists should consider deductive reasoning as a basis for thinking, Rips develops a theory of natural reasoning abilities and shows how it predicts mental successes and failures in a range of cognitive tasks. In parts I and II of the book, Rips builds insights from cognitive psychology, logic, and artificial intelligence into a unified theoretical structure. He defends the idea that deduction depends on the ability to construct mental proofs -- actual memory units that link given information to conclusions it warrants. From this base Rips develops a computational model of deduction based on two cognitive skills: the ability to make suppositions or assumptions and the ability to posit sub-goals for conclusions. A wide variety of original experiments support this model, including studies of human subjects evaluating logical arguments as well as following and remembering proofs. Unlike previous theories of mental proof, this one handles names and variables in a general way. This capability enables deduction to play a crucial role in other thought processes,such as classifying and problem solving. In part III, Rips compares the theory to earlier approaches in psychology which confined the study of deduction to a small group of tasks, and examines whether the theory is too rational or too irrational in its mode of thought.

497 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In economics, the concept of rationality has been applied to a world in which time and uncertainty are real as mentioned in this paper, and among its most important manifestations have been criteria for consistency in allocation over time, the expected utility hypothesis of behavior under uncertainty, and what may be termed the Bayesian hypothesis for learning, that is the consistent use of conditional probabilities for changing beliefs on the basis of new information.
Abstract: : The concept of rationality has been basic to most economic analysis. Its content has been successively refined over the generations. As applied to the static world of certainty, it has turned out to be a weak hypothesis, not easily refuted and therefore not very useful as an explanation, though not literally a tautology. But recent decades have seen the development of stronger versions applied to a world in which time and uncertainty are real. Among its most important manifestations have been criteria for consistency in allocation over time, the expected-utility hypothesis of behavior under uncertainty, and what may be termed the Bayesian hypothesis for learning, that is the consistent use of conditional probabilities for changing beliefs on the basis of new information. These hypotheses have been used widely in offering explanations of empirically-observed behavior, though as not infrequently in economics, the theoretical development has gone much further than the empirical implementation. These hypotheses have also been used increasingly in normative analysis, as a component of benefit-cost studies (therefore frequently referred to as benefit-risk studies). The value of reducing mortality rates from diseases, for example, has been studied by assuming that choice of occupations is made inter alia by comparing wage differences with mortality differences.

487 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the extent to which current changes in fertility and nuptiality in the region can be viewed as manifestations of a cultural dimension that had already emerged at the time of demographic transition in Europe.
Abstract: A fertility decline is in essence part of a broader emancipation process. More specifically, the demographic regulatory mechanisms, upheld by the accompanying communal or family authority and exchange patterns, give way to the principle of individual freedom of choice, thereby allowing an extension of the domain of economic rationality to the phenomenon of reproduction. In an earlier article, drawing on the record of Western Europe, I examined social control and the regime of natural fertility. I The first aim of this article is to follow through the evolution of reproduction and changes in family life, drawing on later stages of that same record. The purpose of this exercise is to explore the extent to which current changes in fertility and nuptiality in the region can be viewed as manifestations of a cultural dimension that had already emerged at the time of demographic transition in Europe. Much of the empirical evidence presented here pertains to this issue. The second aim of the article is to place the findings in a broad theoretical framework. Although we shall stress an important sociological component and its historical development, one should not consider the'evidence as incompatible with other subtheories that follow, for instance, the microeconomic approach. In fact, microeconomic analysts will probably find it comforting to see the extension of the domain of economic rationality and of the principle of individual choice traced historically and documented statistically. But, equally central to the philosophy of this article is the argument that the various ways in which persons engage in the calculation of relative advantage reveal more than the algebraic capacities of individuals and their level of perception of opportunities and constraints. More specifically, if persons engage in an evaluation of utilities and disutilities, they operate on the basis of a preference map, and if such a preference structure exists, there must also be a meaninggiving or ideational system that directs it. There is no reason to believe that

486 citations


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