The first reference on rationality that integrates accounts from psychology and philosophy, covering descriptive and normative theories from both disciplines. Both analytic philosophy and cognitive psychology have made dramatic advances in understanding rationality, but there has been little interaction between the disciplines. This volume offers the first integrated overview of the state of the art in the psychology and philosophy of rationality. Written by leading experts from both disciplines, The Handbook of Rationality covers the main normative and descriptive theories of rationality—how people ought to think, how they actually think, and why we often deviate from what we can call rational. It also offers insights from other fields such as artificial intelligence, economics, the social sciences, and cognitive neuroscience. The Handbook proposes a novel classification system for researchers in human rationality, and it creates new connections between rationality research in philosophy, psychology, and other disciplines. Following the basic distinction between theoretical and practical rationality, the book first considers the theoretical side, including normative and descriptive theories of logical, probabilistic, causal, and defeasible reasoning. It then turns to the practical side, discussing topics such as decision making, bounded rationality, game theory, deontic and legal reasoning, and the relation between rationality and morality. Finally, it covers topics that arise in both theoretical and practical rationality, including visual and spatial thinking, scientific rationality, how children learn to reason rationally, and the connection between intelligence and rationality.

The Handbook of Rational and Social Choice provides an overview of issues arising in work on the foundations of decision theory and social choice over the past three decades. Drawing on work by economic theorists mainly, but also with contributions from political science, philosophy and psychology, the collection shows how the related areas of decision theory and social choice have developed in their applications and moved well beyond the basic models of expected utility and utilitarian approaches to welfare economics. Containing twenty-three contributions, in many cases by leading figures in their fields, the handbook shows how the normative foundations of economics have changed dramatically as more general and explicit models of utility and group choice have been developed. This is perhaps the first time these developments have been brought together in a manner that seeks to identify and make accessible the recent themes and developments that have been of particular interest to researchers in recent years. The collection will be of particular value to researchers in economics with interests in utility or welfare but it will also be of interest to any social scientist or philosopher interested in theories of rationality or group decision-making.

The Handbook of Rational Choice Social Research offers the first comprehensive overview of how the rational choice paradigm can inform empirical research within the social sciences. This landmark collection highlights successful empirical applications across a broad array of disciplines, including sociology, political science, economics, history, and psychology. Taking on issues ranging from financial markets and terrorism to immigration, race relations, and emotions, and a huge variety of other phenomena, rational choice proves a useful tool for theory- driven social research. Each chapter uses a rational choice framework to elaborate on testable hypotheses and then apply this to empirical research, including experimental research, survey studies, ethnographies, and historical investigations. Useful to students and scholars across the social sciences, this handbook will reinvigorate discussions about the utility and versatility of the rational choice approach, its key assumptions, and tools.

The initial conceptualization of this book was much more narrow than the final product that has emerged. I started out believing that it would be enlightening to have a group of acknowledged rational-emotive therapy (RET) expert practitioners with well-established literary credentials write about how they approach the problem of modifying dient irrationality. Many RET practitioners of all levels of experience are, on the one hand, enamored of the economy, the precision, and the accuracy of psychological insight that RET theory offers, but they are, on the other hand, equally frustrated by their own inability to "persuade" or otherwise change some of the dients they work with more quickly or even at all. Indeed, dients themselves frequently express the view that RET is illuminating, yet they find themselves at the same time puzzled and perplexed by their inability to make the substantial changes that RET invites. It became dearer as I discussed the project with many of the contrib utors that to practice RET effectively requires more than just innovative and persistent assessment and intervention techniques. For example, Rus sell Grieger expressed the view that more prerequisite work needs to be done on the value and philosophical systems of dients-induding person al responsibility and the philosophy of happiness-before many dients can show significant shifts in their thinking. Susan Walen raised the gener al issues of how effective RET can be in the treatment of biologically driven affective disorders.

A speech for the defence in a Paris murder trial, a road-safety slogan, Hobbes' political theory; each appeals to reason of a kind, but it remains an oblique and rhetoricalldnd. Each relies on comparisons rather than on direct statements, and none can override or supersede the conclusions of ethical reasoning proper. Nevertheless, just as slogans may do more for road safety than the mere recital of accident statistics, or of the evidence given at coroners' inquests, so the arguments of a Hobbes or a Bentham may be of greater practical effect than the assertion of genuinely ethical or political statements, however true and relevant these may be. Stephen Toulmin, Reason in Ethics, 1950. The International Colloquium on Cognitive Science (ICCS), held in Donostia - San Sebastian every two years since 1989, has become one of the most important plazas for cognitive scientists in Europe to present the results of their research and to exchange ideas. The seventh edition, co-organized as usual by the Institute for Logic, Cognition, Language, and Information (ILCLI) and the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, both from the University of the Basque Country, took place from May 9 to 12, 200 1, addressing the following main topics: 1. Truth: Epistemology and Logic. 2. Rationality in a Social Setting. 3. Music, Language, and Cognition. Vlll TRUTH, RATIONALITY, COGNITION, AND MUSIC 4. The Order of Discourse: Logic, Pragmatics, and Rhetoric.

Livestock nutrition is one of the most important issue in animal production both in physiological-economic terms as well as the impact of livestock on the environment. The handbook „Rational livestock nutrition in rural areas” has been funded with support from the European Commission under Erasmus + programme – Cooperation for innovation and good practice. The book has been developed by experts in various fields of agriculture – animal nutrition and feed science, animal husbandry, agronomy and veterinary medicine. The authors of this book, originating from five different countries – Poland, Turkey, Romania, Italy and Hungary by working within the framework of the established Strategic Partnership – Vocational Education and Training have developed a comprehensive compendium aimed at transfer of knowledge, good practice and innovation in the field of agriculture with emphasis on rational nutrition of livestock. The book covers five broad issues of livestock nutrition. Chapter one – „Physiology of Nutrition”, is related to the anatomy and functions of particular organs of the farm animals’ digestive tracts, type of nutrients found in the livestock diets, as well digestion, absorption and metabolism of these compounds. An extensive characteristics of most common used in animal nutrition feeds, their processing, feed additives as well as the mechanism of their action are presented in the second chapter – „Feed and Feed Additives”. The chapter number three – „Animal Feeding Systems in Europe” in a synthetic way explains the fundamentals of commonly used feeding systems of ruminants, pigs, poultry, horses and rabbits. This chapter also provides several schemes of daily rations/concentrate mixtures formulation for various farm animal species. An extensive chapter number four is dedicated to animal welfare as well etiology, treatment and prevention of metabolic diseases in animals that livestock breeders are struggling every day. Last but not least, the fifth chapter raises issues related to livestock production in terms of environmental and legal conditions under the common agricultural policy of member countries. The possibilities of reducing the negative impact of livestock production on the environment, so called „good practices” are discussed in this chapter. The book “Rational Livestock Nutrition in Rural Areas” is intended for people involved in animal production – mainly farmers but it can also be used by agricultural and nutritional consultants, zootechnical service workers. Students of vocational agricultural schools and, to some extent, students of natural and agricultural universities may benefit this book as well.

While methodological individualism is a fundamental approach within the social sciences, it is often misunderstood. This highlights the need for a discursive and up-to-date reference work analyzing this approach’s classic arguments and assumptions in the light of contemporary issues in sociology, economics and philosophy. This two-volume handbook presents the first comprehensive overview of methodological individualism. Chapters discuss historical and contemporary debates surrounding this central approach within the social sciences, as well as cutting edge developments related to the individualist tradition with philosophical and scientific implications. Bringing together multiple contributions from the world’s leading experts on this important tradition of theorizing, this collective endeavor provides teachers, researchers and students in sociology, economics, and philosophy with a reliable and critical understanding of the founding principles, key thinkers and intellectual development of MI since the late 19th century. ​

A revised version of this essential interdisciplinary handbook.