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Rationalization in the pejorative sense: Cushman's account overlooks the scope and costs of rationalization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

Jonathan Ellis
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, [email protected]/
Eric Schwitzgebel
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA92521-0201. [email protected]/~eschwitz

Abstract

According to Cushman, rationalization occurs when a person has performed an action and then concocts beliefs and desires that would have made it rational. We argue that this isn't the paradigmatic form of rationalization. Consequently, Cushman's explanation of the function and usefulness of rationalization is less broad-reaching than he intends. Cushman's account also obscures some of rationalization's pernicious consequences.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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