The theory of practical rationality does not belong to one academic discipline alone. There are quite divergent philosophical, economical, sociological, psychological and politological contributions. Sometimes the disciplinary boundaries impede theoretical progress. On the other hand it is an indication for the high complexity of the subject that so many divergent paradigms compete with one another, or - what is worse - live separately in a kind of splendid isolation. Decision theory in the broader sense, embracing the theory of games and collective choice theory, can help to understand practical reason in philosophical analysis. But there are interesting aspects which cannot be dealt with adequately within a decision-theoretic conceptual framework. To have both of these convictions justifies to neglect dis ciplinary boundaries and poses a problem for the orthodoxies of either sides. All the essays of this volume focus on the relation between economic rationality and practical reason and discuss different aspects of the same problem, i. e. a basic deficiency in the standard economic theory of practical rationality. But philosophical analysis would not be of much help if it just rejected the economic paradigm. It must rather help to integrate economic aspects into a broader view on practical reason.

Autorentext

Julian Nida-Rümelin is one of the most well-known philosophers in Germany and Europe and an important opinion leader in Germany who has published inside and outside of academia. He was State Minister for Culture in the socialist-green national government of Gerhard Schröder in 2001/2002. In 2017 the Bavarian Government awarded him with the Medal of the Bavarian State for special merits on the Bavarian economy and in 2019 he received the Bavarian Distinguished Service Award. Since 2020 he has been part of the German Ethics Council. Nathalie Weidenfeld is a well-known author and acted as co-writer in this project. She published inside and outside academia and taught film at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. She is part of the Bavarian Ethics Commission.

Inhalt

1. Rationality and Morality.- 2. Rational Choice: Extensions and Revisions.- 3. Actions and Intentions.- 4. Bayesian Consequentialism.- 5. Formal Economic Rationality.- 6. Non-consequentialist Economic Rationality.- 7. Interpersonal Dependency of Preferences.- 8. Practical Reason and Metapreferences.- 9. The Plurality of Good Reasons.- 10. Structural Rationality and Coherentism.