In an ideal world, our beliefs would satisfy norms of truth and
rationality, as well as foster the acquisition, retention, and use of
other relevant information. In reality, we have limited cognitive
capacities and are subject to motivational biases on an everyday
basis. We may also experience impairments in perception, memory,
learning, and reasoning in the course of our lives. Such limitations
and impairments give rise to distorted memory beliefs, confabulated
explanations, and beliefs that are elaborated delusional, motivated
delusional, or optimistically biased. In this book, Lisa Bortolotti
argues that some irrational beliefs qualify as epistemically innocent,
where, in some contexts, the adoption, maintenance, or reporting of
the beliefs delivers significant epistemic benefits that could not be
easily attained otherwise. Epistemic innocence does not imply that the
epistemic benefits of the irrational belief outweigh its epistemic
costs, yet it clarifies the relationship between the epistemic and
psychological effects of irrational beliefs on agency. It is
misleading to assume that epistemic rationality and psychological
adaptiveness always go hand-in-hand, but also that there is a
straight-forward trade-off between them. Rather, epistemic
irrationality can lead to psychological adaptiveness, which in turn
can support the attainment of epistemic goals. Recognising the
circumstances in which irrational beliefs enhance or restore epistemic
performance informs our mutual interactions and enables us to take
measures to reduce their irrationality without undermining the
conditions for epistemic success.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192609441
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter