Irrationality

This Element uses irrationality to illustrate cases that demonstrate the complexity and richness of our mental lives.

This Element explores philosophical and psychological work on irrationality, including akrasia, strange beliefs, and implicit bias. It also explores the nature of rationality, the irrationality of acting against one's better judgement, and the potential rationality of beliefs in conspiracy theories and delusional theories.This Element surveys contemporary philosophical and psychological work on various forms of irrationality: akrasia, strange beliefs, and implicit bias. It takes up several questions in an effort to better illuminate these more maligned aspects of human behaviour and cognition: what is rationality? Why is it irrational to act against one's better judgement? Could it ever be rational to do so? What's going wrong with beliefs in conspiracy theories, those arising from self-deception, or those which are classed as delusional? Might some of them in fact be appropriate responses to evidence? Are implicit biases irrational when they conflict with our avowed beliefs? Or might they be rational insofar as they track social realities?