Rationality

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

Unruly Technology: Practical Rules, Impractical Discourses and Public Understanding:

Abstract: This paper examines technologies as rule-following behaviour, arguing that emerging practices define `rules', rather than rules controlling practices. With the aid of several examples, it suggests that technologies should be conceptualized as extensive, open-ended technical-social systems whose local behaviour is underdetermined by any overall rationality. Contextual normalization of working technologies takes place according to local rationalities, but this may fragment the overall technology, whilst evolving its informal practical `rules'. Expert and public discourses present a more rule-bound concept of technology than the more private, contingent world of practice. The implications for public decisions and social control of technology are examined.

The economics and sociology of capitalism

Abstract: The renowned economist Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950) made seminal contributions not only to economic theory but also to sociology and economic history. His work is now attracting wide attention among sociologists, as well as experiencing a remarkable revival among economists. This anthology, which serves as an excellent introduction to Schumpeter, emphasizes his broad socio-economic vision and his attempt to analyze economic reality from several different perspectives. An ambitious introductory essay by Richard Swedberg uses many new sources to enhance our understanding of Schumpeter's life and work and to help analyze his fascinating character. This essay stresses Schumpeter's ability to draw on several social sciences in his study of capitalism. Some of the articles in the anthology are published for the first time. The most important of these are Schumpeter's Lowell Lectures from 1941, "An Economic Interpretation of Our Time." Also included is the transcript of his lecture "Can Capitalism Survive?" (1936) and the high-spirited debate that followed. The anthology contains many of Schumpeter's classical sociological articles, such as his essays on the tax state, imperialism, and social classes. And, finally, there are lesser known articles on the future of private enterprise, on the concept of rationality in the social sciences, and on the work of Max Weber, with whom Schumpeter collaborated on several occasions.

Observations on modernity

Abstract: Preface 1. Modernity in contemporary society 2. European rationality 3. Contingency as modern society's defining attribute 4. Describing the future 5. The ecology of ignorance Notes.

Interactive minds : life-span perspectives on the social foundation of cognition

Abstract: Part I. General Theoretical Framework: 1. The evolution of cooperation: within and between generations Peter Hammerstein 2. Interacting minds in a lifespan perspective: a cultural-historical approach to culture and cognitive development Michael Cole 3. Essentially Social: on the origin of linguistic knowledge in the individual Wolfgang Klein 4. Knowledge and the construction of women's development Gisela Labouvie-Vief Part II. Interactive Minds: 5. Peer interactive minds: development, theoretical, and methodological issues Margarita Azmitia 6. Collaborative rules: how are people supposed to work with one another Jacqueline Goodnow 7. The lifelong transformation of moral goals through social influence Damon William 8. Adults Telling and retelling stories collaboratively Roger A. Dixon 9. Planning about life: towards a social-interactive paradigm Jacqui Smith 10. Wisdom and the social-interactive foundation of the mind Ursula Staudinger Part III. Interactive Minds: Perspecxtives from Cognitive and Educational Psychology: 11. Rationality: Why Social Context Matters Gerd Gigerenzer 12. Styles of thinking Robert J. Sternberg 13. Cooperative construction of expert knowledge: the case of knowledge engineering Gerhard Strube 14. Communities of practice towards expertise: social foundation of university instruction Heinz Mandl Epilogue: reflections and future perspectives 15. Cognitive pychology Peter Graf 16. Developmental psychology Laura Carstensen 17. Educational psychology Franz Weinert 18. Cognitive and cultural anthropology Richard Shweder.

The Moral Purpose of the State: Culture, Social Identity, and Institutional Rationality in International Relations

Abstract: This book seeks to explain why different systems of sovereign states have built different types of fundamental institutions to govern interstate relations. Why, for example, did the ancient Greeks operate a successful system of third-party arbitration, while international society today rests on a combination of international law and multilateral diplomacy? Why did the city-states of Renaissance Italy develop a system of oratorical diplomacy, while the states of absolutist Europe relied on naturalist international law and "old diplomacy"? Conventional explanations of basic institutional practices have difficulty accounting for such variation. Christian Reus-Smit addresses this problem by presenting an alternative, "constructivist" theory of international institutional development, one that emphasizes the relationship between the social identity of the state and the nature and origin of basic institutional practices. Reus-Smit argues that international societies are shaped by deep constitutional structures that are based on prevailing beliefs about the moral purpose of the state, the organizing principle of sovereignty, and the norm of procedural justice. These structures inform the imaginations of institutional architects as they develop and adjust institutional arrangements between states. As he shows with detailed reference to ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, absolutist Europe, and the modern world, different cultural and historical contexts lead to profoundly different constitutional structures and institutional practices. The first major study of its kind, this book is a significant addition to our theoretical and empirical understanding of international relations, past and present.