Rationality and Commitment

by Peter, Fabienne; Schmid, Hans Bernhard

• ISBN13: 9780199287260
• ISBN10: 0199287260
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-25
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Rational choice theory forms the core of the economic approach to humanbehaviour. It is also the most influential philosophical account of practicalrationality. Yet there are persistent controversies about the scope of rationalchoice theory in philosophy and, increasingly, in economics as well. A leadingcritic is the philosopher and Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen, who putforward a trenchant critique of rational choice theory in his seminal paper'Rational Fools'. Sen emphasizes the importance of commitment - those aspects ofhuman behavior which dispose individuals to co-operate, follow norms, andidentify with others. He argues that rational choice theory cannot accommodatecommitment, and demands a more adequate account of rationality.The question of how to account for the rationality of commitment is very much anopen issue and, if anything, even more pressing today than when Sen first raisedit. In Rationality and Commitment, thirteen leading philosophers and economistsdiscuss Sen's claims and propose their own answers to the question of how toaccount for the rationality of committed action. The volume concludes with aspecially-written reply by Sen, in which he responds to his critics and providesa rich commentary on the preceding essays.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Schemata, and Tables	p. vii
List of Contributors	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Rational Fools, Rational Commitments	p. 3
Committed Action	p. 15
Why Exactly is Commitment Important for Rationality?	p. 17
Construing Sen on Commitment	p. 28
Sympathy, Commitment, and Preference	p. 49
Rethinking Rationality	p. 71
Instrumental Rationality versus Practical Reason: Desires, Ends, and Commitment	p. 73
The Grammar of Rationality	p. 105
The Rationality of Rational Fools: The Role of Commitments, Persons, and Agents in Rational Choice Modelling	p. 124
Rational Self-Commitment	p. 150
Rationality and Commitment in Voluntary Cooperation: Insights from Experimental Economics	p. 175
Commitment, Intentions, and Identity	p. 209
Beyond Self-Goal Choice: Amartya Sen's Analysis of the Structure of Commitment and the Role of Shared Desires	p. 211
Cooperation and the We-Perspective	p. 227
Collective Intentions, Commitment, and Collective Action Problems	p. 258
Theories of Team Agency	p. 280
Identity and Commitment: Sen's Fourth Aspects of the Self	p. 313
Comment	p. 337
Rational Choice: Discipline, Brand Name, and Substance	p. 339
Index	p. 363
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