Bounded Thinking offers a new account of the virtues of limitation management: intellectual virtues of adapting to the fact that we cannot solve many problems that we can easily describe. Adam Morton argues that we do give one another guidance on managing our limitations, but that this has to be in terms of virtues and not of rules, and in terms of success--knowledge and accomplishment--rather than rationality. He establishes a taxonomy of intellectual virtues, which includes 'paradoxical virtues' that sound like vices, such as the virtue of ignoring evidence and the virtue of not thinking too hard. There are also virtues of not planning ahead, in that some forms of such planning require present knowledge of one's future knowledge that is arguably impossible. A person's best response to many problems depends not on the most rationally promising solution to solving them but on the most likely route to success given the profile of intellectual virtues that the person has and lacks. Morton illustrates his argument with discussions of several paradoxes and conundra. He closes the book with a discussion of intelligence and rationality, and argues that both have very limited usefulness in the evaluation of who will make progress on which problems.

Bounded Thinking: Intellectual virtues for limited agents

Self-Help

Morton, Adam

Happiness

Oxford University Press

The Importance of Being Understood: Folk Psychology as Ethics (International Library of Philosophy)

The Importance of Being Understood is an innovative and thought-provoking exploration of the links between the way we think about each other's mental states and the fundamentally cooperative nature of everyday life.Adam Morton begins with a consideration of 'folk psychology', the tendency to attribute emotions, desires, beliefs and thoughts to human minds. He takes the view that it is precisely this tendency that enables us to understand, predict and explain the actions of others, which in turn helps us to decide on our own course of action. This relection suggests, claims Morton, that certain types of cooperative activity are dependent on everyday psychological understanding conversely, that we act in such a way as to make our actions easily intelligible to others so that we can benefit from being understood. This idea of 'beneficial circularities' is at the core of Morton's investigation of the interdependencies between folk psychology and social behaviour: we understand each other because we have learned to make ourselves intelligible.Using examples of cooperative activities such as car driving and playing tennis, Adam Morton analyses the concepts of belief and simulation, the idea of explanation by motive, and the causal force of psychological explanation. In addition to argument and analysis, Morton also includes more speculative explorations of topics such as moral progress and presents a new point of view on how and why cultures differ.The Importance of Being Understood forges new links between ethics and the philosophy of mind and will be of interest to anyone in either field, as well as developmental psychologists.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Routledge

Evil has long fascinated psychologists, philosophers, novelists and playwrights but remains an incredibly difficult concept to talk about. On Evil is a compelling and at times disturbing tour of the many faces of evil. What is evil, and what makes people do awful things? If we can explain evil, do we explain it away? Can we imagine the mind of a serial killer, or does such evil defy description? Does evil depend on a contrast with good, as religion tells us, or can there be evil for evil's sake?Adam Morton argues that any account of evil must help us understand three things: why evil occurs; why evil often arises out of banal or everyday situations; and how we can be seen as evil. Drawing on fascinating examples as diverse as Augustine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, psychological studies of deviant behaviour and profiles of serial killers, Adam Morton argues that evil occurs when internal, mental barriers against it simply break down. He also introduces us to some nightmare people, such as Adolf Eichmann and Hannibal Lecter, reminding us that understanding their actions as humans brings us closer to understanding evil.Exciting and thought-provoking, On Evil is essential reading for anyone interested in a topic that attracts and repels us in equal measure.

On Evil (Thinking in Action)

Evil has long fascinated psychologists, philosophers, novelists and playwrights but remains an incredibly difficult concept to talk about. On Evil is a compelling and at times disturbing tour of the many faces of evil. What is evil, and what makes people do awful things? If we can explain evil, do we explain it away? Can we imagine the mind of a serial killer, or does such evil defy description? Does evil depend on a contrast with good, as religion tells us, or can there be evil for evil's sake? Adam Morton argues that any account of evil must help us understand three things: why evil occurs; why evil often arises out of banal or everyday situations; and how we can be seen as evil. Drawing on fascinating examples as diverse as Augustine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, psychological studies of deviant behaviour and profiles of serial killers, Adam Morton argues that evil occurs when internal, mental barriers against it simply break down. He also introduces us to some nightmare people, such as Adolf Eichmann and Hannibal Lecter, reminding us that understanding their actions as humans brings us closer to understanding evil. Exciting and thought-provoking, On Evil is essential reading for anyone interested in a topic that attracts and repels us in equal measure.

Images of Gramsci: Connections and Contentions in Political Theory and International Relations (RIPE Series in Global Political Economy)

A comprehensive reassessment of the relevance of Gramsci’s theory and practice at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Whilst commentaries on Antonio Gramsci and arguments surrounding his political and intellectual legacy have proliferated, little attention has been hitherto directed to linking the connections and contentions between Political Theory and International Political Economy. This volume brings together leading authorities engaged in common debates to produce, for the first time, a major collection that clarifies, addresses, and lays bare the manifest connections and contentions within political and international theory surrounding the legacy of Antonio Gramsci. In Part I, scholars examine various approaches to Gramsci’s thought, including his methodological principles, the specific conception of civil society he offers, his writings on war and cultural struggle, the spatial dimension of his thinking, and his philosophy of history. Part II focuses on very new developments in Gramsci scholarship concerning the questioning of contemporary world order. This includes reflections on his relevancy to issues of globalising capitalism, transformations in the state, revolutionary praxis, orientalism and empire, as well as European regionalism. This book was previously published as a special issue of the leading Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. (CRISPP)

Biographies & Memoirs

Bieler, Andreas

Leaders & Notable People

The author presents a number of strategies for making decisions based on desires or values which are incompatible or which conflict with one another in various ways. Cases discussed include conflicts of first and second order desires, conflicts between desires for present and for future ends, problems deriving from anticipated changes of desire, risk-taking problems, and coordination problems. One central claim of the book is that the same dilemma-managing strategies can be applied to all of these. The book also argues that many of the characteristics of moral dilemmas appear in non-moral decision-making. The relations between these strategies and utility-maximizing decision rules are subtle, and are explored throughout the book. To some extent the strategies apply to cases which are too complicated for utility-maximization to apply. Some of them also apply to the early stages of decision-making where utility-maximization does not enter, for example, in selecting a list of options for serious consideration. In some tidy cases, though, the strategies give different recommendations. This book is meant to have both a theoretical and a practical appeal, deriving from our need for ways of making decisions that do not force us to find trade-offs between goods or values which are hard to compare. The strategies presented in the book are meant to be usable in situations which seem to force decision-makers to balance very different quantities, and the discussion of them is meant as a contribution to debates about incomparable values, moral dilemmas and rational decision.

Disasters and Dilemmas: Strategies for Real-Life Decision Making

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Blackwell Pub.

Philosophy in Practice is a completely new kind of introductory philosophy textbook, focusing on philosophy as an activity, rather than as a doctrine. At its heart is a stimulating sequence of exercises, activities and examples which lead the student directly into philosophical thinking and arguing. 
The book is divided into three parts, concentrating on issues of reason, experience, and reality. Each is covered in a way that makes clear both the key connections between metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, and the main trends in the history of philosophy. It provides the ideal general introduction to philosophy.

Philosophy in Practice: An Introduction to the Main Questions

Wiley/Blackwell

Philosophy in Practice is a completely new kind of introductory philosophy textbook, focusing on philosophy as an activity, rather than as a doctrine. At its heart is a stimulating sequence of exercises, activities and examples which lead the student directly into philosophical thinking and arguing. The book is divided into three parts, concentrating on issues of reason, experience, and reality. Each is covered in a way that makes clear both the key connections between metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, and the main trends in the history of philosophy. It provides the ideal general introduction to philosophy.

A Guide Through the Theory of Knowledge

This is a new and revised version of a much-acclaimed text designed to be used on introductory courses in epistemology.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Morton, Adam. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Morton, Adam

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Morton, Adam. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Bounded Thinking: Intellectual virtues for limited agents

The Importance of Being Understood: Folk Psychology as Ethics (International Library of Philosophy)

The Importance of Being Understood: Folk Psychology as Ethics (International Library of Philosophy)

On Evil (Thinking in Action)

On Evil (Thinking in Action)

Images of Gramsci: Connections and Contentions in Political Theory and International Relations (RIPE Series in Global Political Economy)

Disasters and Dilemmas: Strategies for Real-Life Decision Making

Philosophy in Practice: An Introduction to the Main Questions

Philosophy in Practice: An Introduction to the Main Questions

A Guide Through the Theory of Knowledge