The Epistemology of A Priori Knowledge (Volume 0)

✍ Scribed by the late Tamara Horowitz, Joseph L. Camp Jr.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 206
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This volume collects four published articles by the late Tamara Horowitz and two unpublished papers on decision theory: "Making Rational Decisions When Preferences Cycle" and the monograph-length "The Backtracking Fallacy." An introduction is provided by editor Joseph Camp. Horowitz preferred to recognize the diversity of rationality, both practical and theoretical rationality. She resisted the temptation to accept simple theories of rationality that are quick to characterize ordinary reasoning as fallacious. This broadly humanist approach to philosophy is exemplified by the articles in this collection. As just one example, in "The Backtracking Fallacy," she argues that there are policies for decision-making a person may adopt if the person prefers to do so, but need not adopt. A person who employs such a policy no longer can regard standard expected utility theory as exceptionless, thereby sacrificing theoretical simplicity. But it is a mistake, Horowitz argues, to preserve theoretical simplicity by falsifying the decision making methods real people really use.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 10
Introduction......Page 14
1 The Backtracking Fallacy......Page 34
2 Making Rational Choices When Preferences Cycle......Page 114
3 A Priori Truth......Page 134
4 Stipulation and Epistemological Privilege......Page 149
5 Newcomb’s Problem as a Thought Experiment......Page 164
6 Philosophical Intuitions and Psychological Theory......Page 179
C......Page 202
H......Page 203
P......Page 204
S......Page 205
W......Page 206