Solomonic Judgements

Studies in the Limitations of Rationality

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Paperback | 18 December 1989

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244 Pages

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This volume of essays is very much a sequel to the two earlier collections by Jon Elster, Ulysses and the Sirens and Sour Grapes. His topic is rationality - its scope, its limitations, and its failures. Elster considers rational responses to the insufficiency of reason itself, and to the 'indeterminacies' in deploying rational-choice theory and discusses the irrationality of not seeing when, where, and what these are. A key essay which gives the collection its title examines disputes in cases of child custody, which are paradigmatically indeterminate. Leaving aside cases where one parent is patently unfit and assuming that protracted dispute is against the immediate interests of the child, Elster argues that three options present themselves: a strong presumption in favour of the mother, a strong presumption in favour of the primary caretaker (also likely to be the mother), and tossing a coin. Though the first two options may be preferable in the short/medium term, Elster argues that there is a case for randomisation in the long term. The book will be read with interest by anyone concerned with political and social science.

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Preface and acknowledgements	p. vii
When Rationality Fails	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Rational action	p. 3
Indeterminacy	p. 7
Irrationality	p. 17
Alternatives to rationality	p. 26
Taming Chance: Randomization in Individual and Social Decisions	p. 36
Introduction	p. 36
Varieties of randomness	p. 39
Randomization in individual decisions	p. 53
Social lotteries: an overview	p. 62
Scarce goods and necessary burdens	p. 67
Political lotteries	p. 78
Legal lotteries	p. 93
Why lotteries?	p. 103
Solomonic Judgements: Against the Best Interests of the Child	p. 123
Introduction	p. 123
Towards the best interests of the child	p. 130
Against the best interests of the child	p. 134
Circumventing the best interests of the child	p. 151
Alternatives to the best interests of the child	p. 155
Conclusion	p. 173
The Possibility of Rational Politics	p. 175
Introduction	p. 175
Individual and social choice	p. 176
Political indeterminacy	p. 181
Political irrationality	p. 194
Alternatives to rationalism in politics	p. 202
References	p. 217
Index	p. 231
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Solomonic Judgements

Studies in the Limitations of Rationality

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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