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The rationale of rationalization

Walter Veit, Joe Dewhurst, Krzysztof Dołęga, Max Jones, Shaun Stanley, Keith Frankish, Daniel C. Dennett

2020Behavioral and Brain Sciences23 citationsDOI

Abstract

While we agree in broad strokes with the characterisation of rationalization as a "useful fiction," we think that Fiery Cushman's claim remains ambiguous in two crucial respects: (1) the reality of beliefs and desires, that is, the fictional status of folk-psychological entities and (2) the degree to which they should be understood as useful. Our aim is to clarify both points and explicate the rationale of rationalization.

Topics & Concepts

Rationalization (economics)EpistemologyPsychologySociologySocial psychologyPhilosophyPsychology of Moral and Emotional JudgmentEvolutionary Game Theory and CooperationEpistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics
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