A road map to empathic and efficient decisions and policies, constructed from new insights in the science of human judgment Faced with another's suffering, human beings feel sympathy and may even be moved to charity. However, for all our good intentions and vaunted free will, we are lousy at making the bigger decisions that actually improve lives. Why? Drawing on his sweeping and innovative research in the fields of psychology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience, philosopher and cognitive scientist J. D. Trout explains how our empathic wiring actually undermines the best interests of individuals and society. However, it is possible to bridge this "empathy gap" and improve our decision-making. Here, Trout offers a tantalizing proposal- how to vault that gap and improve the lives of not just ourselves but the lives of everyone all around the world.

Why Empathy Matters: The Science and Psychology of Better Judgment

Health, Fitness & Dieting

TROUT, J.D.

Psychology & Counseling

Penguin Publishing Group

In All Talked Out J.D. Trout exemplifies the power of science in a philosopher's hands, and takes a welcome look at the resulting fate of philosophy. Based on his 2013 Phi Beta Kappa Romanell Lectures, each chapter presents a novel and positive view of intellectual advancements with respect to traditional topics in philosophy, and explains why these achievements occurred despite the archaic and often retrograde influence of philosophical doctrine and method. Together, these two lines of inquiry lead the reader to understand that while foundational reflection remains as necessary as ever, philosophy, as it is conceived of in the halls of academia, no longer adds anything distinctively useful. At its best, philosophy is a place to grow new ideas. But many other disciplines can provide such incubation. At the same time, however, we don't have to kill philosophy; but we do have to figure out what is worth preserving. Following a spirited introduction, the first lecture takes stock of the growing field of evidence-based approaches to reasoning, and in light of these scientific developments, criticizes important failures in epistemology as it is currently practiced in the English speaking world. The second lecture examines the psychological impulse to explain, the resulting sense of understanding, and the natural limits of cognitively appreciating the subject we have explained. The final lecture presents the proper reaction to the idea that scientific evidence matters to responsible governance.

All Talked Out: Naturalism and the Future of Philosophy (The Romanell Lectures)

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

A fresh, daring, and genuine alternative to the traditional story of scientific progress Explaining the world around us, and the life within it, is one of the most uniquely human drives, and the most celebrated activity of science. Good explanations are what provide accurate causal accounts of the things we wonder at, but explanation's earthly origins haven't grounded it: we have used it to account for the grandest and most wondrous mysteries in the natural world. Explanations give us a sense of understanding, but an explanation that feels right doesn't mean it is true. For every true explanation, there is a false one that feels just as good. A good theory's explanations, though, have a much easier path to truth. This push for good explanations elevated science from medieval alchemy to electro-chemistry, or a pre-inertial physics to the forces underlying nanoparticles. And though the attempt to explain has existed as long as we have been able to wonder, a science timeline from pre-history to the present will reveal a steep curve of theoretical discovery that explodes around 1600, primarily in the West. Ranging over neuroscience, psychology, history, and policy, Wondrous Truths answers two fundamental questions-Why did science progress in the West? And why so quickly? J.D. Trout's answers are surprising. His central idea is that Western science rose above all others because it hit upon successive theories that were approximately true through an awkward assortment of accident and luck, geography and personal idiosyncrasy. Of course, intellectual ingenuity partially accounts for this persistent drive forward. But so too does the persistence of the objects of wonder. Wondrous Truths recovers the majesty of science, and provides a startling new look at the grand sweep of its biggest ideas.

Wondrous Truths: The Improbable Triumph of Modern Science

The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction (American History)

Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction explains the main ideas and problems of contemporary epistemology, the philosophical study of knowledge. Comprehensive and rich in illustrations and examples, it deals with major topics while avoiding technical detail. It introduces traditional topics in epistemology within the context of contemporary debates about the definition, sources, and limits of human knowledge. It also relates epistemology to work in cognitive science and defends a plausible version of explanationism regarding epistemological method. A glossary of important epistemological terms and suggestions for further reading enhance the volume.

The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction

Moser, Paul K.

Mulder, Dwayne H.

The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction explains the main ideas and problems of contemporary epistemology while avoiding technical detail. Comprehensive and rich in illustrations and examples, it highlights contemporary debates over the definition, sources, and limits of human knowledge, and covers major topics including the nature of belief, theories of truth, epistemic justification, the Gettier problem, skepticism, and epistemic rationality. Its discussions identify important connections between traditional epistemological questions and cognitive science, the history of science, the sociology of knowledge, and cross-cultural studies. The book culminates with a focus on questions regarding epistemological method and an examination of the roots of contemporary analytic approaches to epistemology. The authors defend a distinctive position regarding epistemological method, called broad explanationism, that incorporates some insights from naturalism in epistemology. The volume is enhanced by a glossary of important epistemological terms and suggestions for further reading. Easily accessible to beginning students in philosophy, The Theory of Knowledge serves as an ideal text for courses in the theory of knowledge and will also appeal to general readers interested in philosophy.

Scientific realism has been advanced as an interpretation of the natural sciences but never the behavioral sciences. This exciting book introduces a novel version of scientific realism--Measured Realism--that characterizes the kind of theoretical progress in the social and psychological sciences that is uneven but indisputable. Trout proposes a theory of measurement--Population-Guided Estimation--that connects natural, psychological, and social scientific inquiry. Presenting quantitative methods in the behavioral sciences as at once successful and regulated by the world, Measuring the Intentional World will engage philosophers of science, historians of science, sociologists of science, and scientists interested in the foundations of their own disciplines.

Measuring the Intentional World: Realism, Naturalism, and Quantitative Methods in the Behavioral Sciences

Bishop and Trout here present a unique and provocative new approach to epistemology (the theory of human knowledge and reasoning). Their approach aims to liberate epistemology from the scholastic debates of standard analytic epistemology, and treat it as a branch of the philosophy of science. The approach is novel in its use of cost-benefit analysis to guide people facing real reasoning problems and in its framework for resolving normative disputes in psychology. Based on empirical data, Bishop and Trout show how people can improve their reasoning by relying on Statistical Prediction Rules (SPRs). They then develop and articulate the positive core of the book. Their view, Strategic Reliabilism, claims that epistemic excellence consists in the efficient allocation of cognitive resources to reliable reasoning strategies, applied to significant problems. The last third of the book develops the implications of this view for standard analytic epistemology; for resolving normative disputes in psychology; and for offering practical, concrete advice on how this theory can improve real people's reasoning. This is a truly distinctive and controversial work that spans many disciplines and will speak to an unusually diverse group, including people in epistemology, philosophy of science, decision theory, cognitive and clinical psychology, and ethics and public policy.

Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment

Bishop, Michael A

Mental Health

A fresh, daring, and genuine alternative to the traditional story of scientific progress Explaining the world around us, and the life within it, is one of the most uniquely human drives, and the most celebrated activity of science. Good explanations are what provide accurate causal accounts of the things we wonder at, but explanation's earthly origins haven't grounded it: we have used it to account for the grandest and most wondrous mysteries in the natural world. Explanations give us a sense of understanding, but an explanation that feels right doesn't mean it is true. For every true explanation, there is a false one that feels just as good. A good theory's explanations, though, have a much easier path to truth. This push for good explanations elevated science from medieval alchemy to electro-chemistry, or a pre-inertial physics to the forces underlying nanoparticles. And though the attempt to explain has existed as long as we have been able to wonder, a science timeline from pre-history to the present will reveal a steep curve of theoretical discovery that explodes around 1600, primarily in the West. Ranging over neuroscience, psychology, history, and policy, Wondrous Truths answers two fundamental questions-Why did science progress in the West? And why so quickly? J.D. Trout's answers are surprising. His central idea is that Western science rose above all others because it hit upon successive theories that were approximately true through an awkward assortment of accident and luck, geography and personal idiosyncrasy. Of course, intellectual ingenuity partially accounts for this persistent drive forward. But so too does the persistence of the objects of wonder. Wondrous Truths recovers the majesty of science, and provides a startling new look at the grand sweep of its biggest ideas.

Contemporary Materialism: A Reader

Contemporary Materialism brings together the best recent work on materialism from many of our leading contemporary philosophers. This is the first comprehensive reader on the subject. The majority of philosophers and scientists today hold the view that all phenomena are physical, as a result materialism or 'physicalism' is now the dominant ontology in a wide range of fields. Surprisingly no single book, until now, has collected the key investigations into materialism, to reflect the impact it has had on current thinking in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and the theory of value. The classic papers in this collection chart contemporary problems, positions and themes in materialism. At the invitation of the editors, many of the papers have been specially up-dated for this collection: follow-on pieces written by the contributors enable them to appraise the original paper and assess developments since the work was first published. The book's selections are largely non-technical and accessible to advanced undergraduates. The editors have provided a useful general introduction, outlining and contextualising this central system of thought, as well as a topical bibliography. Contemporary Materialism will be vital reading for anyone concerned to discover the ideas underlying contemporary philosophy. David Armstrong, University of Sydney; Jerry Fodor, Rutgers University, New Jersey; Tim Crane, University College, London; D. H. Mellor, Univeristy of Cambridge; J.J.C.

History

Routledge

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

Books by TROUT, J.D.

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

Why Empathy Matters: The Science and Psychology of Better Judgment

All Talked Out: Naturalism and the Future of Philosophy (The Romanell Lectures)

Wondrous Truths: The Improbable Triumph of Modern Science

The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction

The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction (American History)

Measuring the Intentional World: Realism, Naturalism, and Quantitative Methods in the Behavioral Sciences

Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment

Measuring the Intentional World: Realism, Naturalism, and Quantitative Methods in the Behavioral Sciences

Wondrous Truths: The Improbable Triumph of Modern Science

Contemporary Materialism: A Reader