From: Peter C. McCluskey (pcm@rahul.net)
Date: Thu May 29 2003 - 10:20:28 MDT
Huemer's use of irrationality to refer to "instrumentally rational but
not epistemically rational" is really confusing, since colloquial usage
or "irrationality" seems to include some element of instrumental irrationality.
(Huemer's use is probably a specialized use peculiar to economists).
Robin's paper which phrases it in terms of truth-seeking provides a less
confusing sound-bite, although that's still no substitute for a detailed
explanation.
This focus on irrationality creates an unnecessary dilemna ("Should you
accuse other people of irrationality"?). My answer is no, one should
accuse people of being overconfident in their opinions (a phenomenon
which is somewhat well known to be as normal a human failing as eating
too much sugar), and of having their opinions biased by their self interest
(which people ought to realize is a normal human failing once essays such
as Huemer's have been adequately publicized).
-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Peter McCluskey | "To announce that there must be no criticism of http://www.rahul.net/pcm | the President, or that we are to stand by the | President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic | and servile, but morally treasonable to the | American public." - Theodore Roosevelt
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