Solomonic Judgements: Studies in the Limitations of Rationality
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About the Book
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.
Book Details
ISBN-13: 9780521376082
EAN: 9780521376082
Publisher Date: 19 Aug 1989
Bood Data Readership Text: Tertiary Education (US: College)
Dewey: 302.13
Gardner Classification Code: K03
Illustration: Y
Language: English
MediaMail: Y
Number of Items: 01
PrintOnDemand: Y
Series Title: English
Star Rating: 0
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-10: 0521376084
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Binding: Paperback
Country Of Origin: United Kingdom
File Size: 000001
Height: 228 mm
Illustrations: 2 b/w illus.
LCCN: 88033997
No of Pages: 244
Pagination: 244 pages, 2 b/w illus.
Returnable: N
Spine Width: 14 mm
UK Availability: GXC
Year Of Publication: 1989