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Philosophy of Mind Workshop Series
4. Rationality
WorkshopseriesdevelopedbySophieStammers,researchfellowatProjectPERFECT,UniversityofBirmingham,andconceivedofinpartnershipwithMindinCamdenin2017.Emails.stammers@bham.ac.uk
Today’s session: Guiding questions
1)Whatarerationalityandirrationality,andwherearetheseconceptsemployed?2)Shouldirrationalitybeidentifiedwithillness,ormentalhealthcrisis?
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Popular view in psychiatry:
v Irrationality is a significant symptom
of “mental disorders” “TheWorldHealthOrganization’sInternationalClassificationofDiseasesandtheAmericanPsychiatricAssociation’sDiagnosticandStatisticalManualthatsetthecriteriaforpsychiatricdiagnosisofmentaldisordersdescribemanymentaldisordersasinvolvingdeviationsfromrationality.Thismeansthatrationalityplaysabigroleinwhatcountsasamentaldisorderand,hence,inwhowejudgedtohaveoneandhowwetreatthem.”EllyVintiadis,“TheIrrationalityWithinUs”,ScientificAmerican,12thDecember2016.
What is rationality?
And what does it mean to be rational?
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Difference senses of rationality BelievingEpistemicrationalityHavingbeliefsbasedonevidence(whateverthatis…)orsharedreality.RationalcoherenceHavingbeliefsthatdon’tcontradicteachother,andwhichfittogether.
DoingInstrumentalrationalityDoingthingstoachieveyouraims,whatevertheyare.ValuerationalityDoingthingsinaccordancewithsomesetofvaluesorprinciples.
Cognitive biases: Confirmation bias Whenexistingbeliefsinfluencetheoutcomeofadecision(andtheyshouldn’t).E.g.ForensicexaminersandfingerprintsForensicexaminersweregivensomefingerprintstomatch.Itwashintedthatthesefingerprintscamefromacasealreadyknowntotheexaminers,inwhichotherexaminershadfoundtheprintstobeanon-match.Infact,theprintswerefromcasestheforensicexaminersinthestudyhadalreadymadejudgementsabout.Eventhoughtheexpertsweretoldtoignorethebackgroundinformation,fouroutoffiveofthemdidnotidentifythefingerprintsastheydidthefirsttimetheyexaminedthem!FromDror,I.etal.(2006),Contextualinformationrendersexpertsvulnerabletomakingerroneousidentifications,ForensicScienceInternational,156:1,74-78.
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Whensomeonemakesunfavourablejudgementsaboutaperson,ortheiraccomplishments,onthebasisofthatperson’ssocialgroupmembership.Thiscan(andregularlydoes!)happenforpeoplewhodonotintendtodiscriminate,andarenotawarethattheydo.Theideaisthatwetendtoassociatecertainsocialidentitygroupswithcertainstereotypicaltraits,andthattheseassociationscanmanifestincognitionandleadustomisrepresentpeoplebyexpectingthemtocomplywithastereotypethatdoesnotnecessarilyreflecthowapersonreallyis.
Social bias
Social bias E.g.s-“Microaggressions”subtlesignsofhostilityinsocialinteractionswithablackperson,comparedtowithawhiteperson.1
-Womenlesslikelytoberecommendedforajobthanmen.2
-(Swedishstudy)jobapplicantswithSwedishnamesmorelikelytobecalledforinterviewthanapplicantswithMuslimnames(exactlythesameC.V.s!).3
-Peopleassociatenotionsrelatingtomentalillnesseswithdangerousness,aswellaswithincompetenceandcharacterweakness.4References1-4atendofdocument
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Wikipedia'scomplete(asof2016)listofcognitivebiases,beautifullyarranged,anddesignedbyJohnManoogianIII(jm3).CategoriesanddescriptionsoriginallybyBusterBenson.https://tinyurl.com/wbiases
Cognitive biases affect everyone
Regardlessofwhethertheyhaveunusualbeliefsand/orexperiences,ongoingmentaldistress,oranypsychiatricdiagnosis.
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Is there any special kind of irrationality that is associated
with mental health issues?
Anddoyouagreewiththeirrationalityassymptomviewfromthestart?
reminder of this view:v
Irrationality is a significant symptom of “mental disorders”
“TheWorldHealthOrganization’sInternationalClassificationofDiseasesandtheAmericanPsychiatricAssociation’sDiagnosticandStatisticalManualthatsetthecriteriaforpsychiatricdiagnosisofmentaldisordersdescribemanymentaldisordersasinvolvingdeviationsfromrationality.Thismeansthatrationalityplaysabigroleinwhatcountsasamentaldisorderand,hence,inwhowejudgedtohaveoneandhowwetreatthem.”EllyVintiadis,“TheIrrationalityWithinUs”,ScientificAmerican,12thDecember2016.
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Butifmultiplecasesofirrationalitywhicharenotrelatedtomentalhealthcrisisordiagnosishavebeenidentified,isirrationalityameaningfuldiagnosticsymptomofmentalhealthcrisis?
“‘Them and Us’ no longer: mental health concerns us all’ https://tinyurl.com/m4reading1 “Models of Mental Health: A Critique and Prospectus” https://tinyurl.com/m4reading2
(Optional) readings for next session
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Social bias (references) 1) Dovidio,J.F.,Kawakami,K.,Johnson,C.,etal.(1997).OntheNatureofPrejudice:
AutomaticandControlledProcesses.JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology,33(5),510–540;McConnell,A.R.,&Leibold,J.M.(2001).RelationsamongtheImplicitAssociationTest,DiscriminatoryBehavior,andExplicitMeasuresofRacialAttitudes.JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology,37(5),435–442;Wilson,T.D.,Lindsey,S.,&Schooler,T.Y.(2000).AModelofDualAttitudes.PsychologicalReview,107(1),101–126.
2) Uhlmann,E.,&Cohen,G.L.(2005).ConstructedCriteria:RedefiningMerittoJustifyDiscrimination.PsychologicalScience,16(6),474–480.
3) Rooth,D.-O.(2007).ImplicitDiscriminationinHiring:RealWorldEvidence.(IZADiscussionPaperNo.2764).Bonn:ForschungsinstitutZurZukunftDerArbeit(InstitutefortheStudyofLabor).
4) Link,B.G.,Phelan,J.C.,Bresnahan,M.,Stueve,A.,&Pescosolido,B.A.(1999).Publicconceptionsofmentalillness:labels,causes,dangerousness,andsocialdistance.Americanjournalofpublichealth,89,9,1328-1333;Corrigan,P.W.,&Watson,A.C.(2002).Understandingtheimpactofstigmaonpeoplewithmentalillness.Worldpsychiatry,1,1,16-20.
