Practical shape : a theory of practical reasoning /
"Everyone allows that we can reason to a new belief from beliefs that we already have. Aristotle thought that we could also reason from beliefs to action. Practical Shape: A Theory of Practical Reasoning establishes this possibility of reasoning to action, in a way that allows also for reasonin...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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New York, NY, United States of America :
Oxford University Press,
2018.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | "Everyone allows that we can reason to a new belief from beliefs that we already have. Aristotle thought that we could also reason from beliefs to action. Practical Shape: A Theory of Practical Reasoning establishes this possibility of reasoning to action, in a way that allows also for reasoning to intention, hope, fear, and doubt. While many philosophers have found little sense in Aristotle's claim, Dancy offers a general theory of reasoning that is sensitive to current debates but still Aristotelian in spirit. The text clearly sets out the similarities between reasoning to action and reasoning to belief, which are far more striking than any dissimilarities. Its detailed account of practical reasoning, a topic inadequately covered in current literature, is presented in such a way as to be intelligible to a variety of readers, making it an ideal resource for students of philosophy but also of interest to academics in related disciplines."-- "This book offers a theory of practical reasoning which is Aristotelian in spirit, since it maintains that one can reason to action in very much the same ways as those in which one can reason to belief. But the book gives its own, non-Aristotelian account of what those ways are; the practical syllogism hardly appears at all. Instead, there are accounts of reasons as considerations favouring a certain response, and of other ways in which considerations can be relevant to that response. Practical reasoning involves the attempt to see how the different relevant considerations come together to favour responding in a certain way (understood here as the attempt to determine the practical shape of the situation) and in acting in that way, in the light of those considerations. The only difference between this and theoretical reasoning is that in the latter, the relevant response is a belief rather than an action. The 'therefore' that is involved on both sides is a 'for these reasons' sort of therefore. The book also shows how the account offered can make good sense of moral reasoning and of the special forms of practical reasoning that are instrumental."--Provided by publisher |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xiii, 185 pages) : illustrations |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-181) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780192528018 0192528017 9780191843518 0191843512 |