"Brilliantā¦Timely and necessary." āFinancial Times
"Especially timely as we struggle to make sense of how it is that individuals and communities persist in holding beliefs that have been thoroughly discredited."
āDarren Frey, Science
If reason is what makes us human, why do we behave so irrationally? And if it is so useful, why didn't it evolve in other animals? This groundbreaking account of the evolution of reason by two renowned cognitive scientists seeks to solve this double enigma. Reason, they argue, helps us justify our beliefs, convince others, and evaluate arguments. It makes it easier to cooperate and communicate and to live together in groups. Provocative, entertaining, and undeniably relevant, The Enigma of Reason will make many reasonable people rethink their beliefs.
"Reasonable-seeming people are often totally irrational. Rarely has this insight seemed more relevantā¦Still, an essential puzzle remains: How did we come to be this way?ā¦Cognitive scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber [argue that] reason developed not to enable us to solve abstract, logical problemsā¦[but] to resolve the problems posed by living in collaborative groups."
āElizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker
"Turns reason's weaknesses into strengths, arguing that its supposed flaws are actually design features that work remarkably well."
āFinancial Times
"The best thing I have read about human reasoning. It is extremely well written, interesting, and very enjoyable to read."
āGilbert Harman, Princeton University
- 396 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Enigma of Reason
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Information
Subtopic
Epistemology in PhilosophyIndex
PsychologyTable of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction: A Double Enigma
- I: Shaking Dogma
- II: Understanding Inference
- III: Rethinking Reason
- IV: What Reason Can and Cannot Do
- V: Reason in the Wild
- Conclusion: In Praise of Reason after All
- Notes
- References
- Acknowledgments
- Illustration Credits
- Index
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Yes, you can access The Enigma of Reason by Hugo Mercier,Dan Sperber in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Psychology & Epistemology in Philosophy. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.