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Philosophy of Mind Workshop Series

4. Rationality

WorkshopseriesdevelopedbySophieStammers,researchfellowatProjectPERFECT,UniversityofBirmingham,andconceivedofinpartnershipwithMindinCamdenin2017.Emails.stammers@bham.ac.uk

Today’s session: Guiding questions

1)Whatarerationalityandirrationality,andwherearetheseconceptsemployed?2)Shouldirrationalitybeidentifiedwithillness,ormentalhealthcrisis?

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Popular view in psychiatry:

v Irrationality is a significant symptom

of “mental disorders” “TheWorldHealthOrganization’sInternationalClassificationofDiseasesandtheAmericanPsychiatricAssociation’sDiagnosticandStatisticalManualthatsetthecriteriaforpsychiatricdiagnosisofmentaldisordersdescribemanymentaldisordersasinvolvingdeviationsfromrationality.Thismeansthatrationalityplaysabigroleinwhatcountsasamentaldisorderand,hence,inwhowejudgedtohaveoneandhowwetreatthem.”EllyVintiadis,“TheIrrationalityWithinUs”,ScientificAmerican,12thDecember2016.

What is rationality?

And what does it mean to be rational?

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Difference senses of rationality BelievingEpistemicrationalityHavingbeliefsbasedonevidence(whateverthatis…)orsharedreality.RationalcoherenceHavingbeliefsthatdon’tcontradicteachother,andwhichfittogether.

DoingInstrumentalrationalityDoingthingstoachieveyouraims,whatevertheyare.ValuerationalityDoingthingsinaccordancewithsomesetofvaluesorprinciples.

Cognitive biases: Confirmation bias Whenexistingbeliefsinfluencetheoutcomeofadecision(andtheyshouldn’t).E.g.ForensicexaminersandfingerprintsForensicexaminersweregivensomefingerprintstomatch.Itwashintedthatthesefingerprintscamefromacasealreadyknowntotheexaminers,inwhichotherexaminershadfoundtheprintstobeanon-match.Infact,theprintswerefromcasestheforensicexaminersinthestudyhadalreadymadejudgementsabout.Eventhoughtheexpertsweretoldtoignorethebackgroundinformation,fouroutoffiveofthemdidnotidentifythefingerprintsastheydidthefirsttimetheyexaminedthem!FromDror,I.etal.(2006),Contextualinformationrendersexpertsvulnerabletomakingerroneousidentifications,ForensicScienceInternational,156:1,74-78.

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Whensomeonemakesunfavourablejudgementsaboutaperson,ortheiraccomplishments,onthebasisofthatperson’ssocialgroupmembership.Thiscan(andregularlydoes!)happenforpeoplewhodonotintendtodiscriminate,andarenotawarethattheydo.Theideaisthatwetendtoassociatecertainsocialidentitygroupswithcertainstereotypicaltraits,andthattheseassociationscanmanifestincognitionandleadustomisrepresentpeoplebyexpectingthemtocomplywithastereotypethatdoesnotnecessarilyreflecthowapersonreallyis.

Social bias

Social bias E.g.s-“Microaggressions”subtlesignsofhostilityinsocialinteractionswithablackperson,comparedtowithawhiteperson.1

-Womenlesslikelytoberecommendedforajobthanmen.2

-(Swedishstudy)jobapplicantswithSwedishnamesmorelikelytobecalledforinterviewthanapplicantswithMuslimnames(exactlythesameC.V.s!).3

-Peopleassociatenotionsrelatingtomentalillnesseswithdangerousness,aswellaswithincompetenceandcharacterweakness.4References1-4atendofdocument

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Wikipedia'scomplete(asof2016)listofcognitivebiases,beautifullyarranged,anddesignedbyJohnManoogianIII(jm3).CategoriesanddescriptionsoriginallybyBusterBenson.https://tinyurl.com/wbiases

Cognitive biases affect everyone

Regardlessofwhethertheyhaveunusualbeliefsand/orexperiences,ongoingmentaldistress,oranypsychiatricdiagnosis.

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Is there any special kind of irrationality that is associated

with mental health issues?

Anddoyouagreewiththeirrationalityassymptomviewfromthestart?

reminder of this view:v

Irrationality is a significant symptom of “mental disorders”

“TheWorldHealthOrganization’sInternationalClassificationofDiseasesandtheAmericanPsychiatricAssociation’sDiagnosticandStatisticalManualthatsetthecriteriaforpsychiatricdiagnosisofmentaldisordersdescribemanymentaldisordersasinvolvingdeviationsfromrationality.Thismeansthatrationalityplaysabigroleinwhatcountsasamentaldisorderand,hence,inwhowejudgedtohaveoneandhowwetreatthem.”EllyVintiadis,“TheIrrationalityWithinUs”,ScientificAmerican,12thDecember2016.

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Butifmultiplecasesofirrationalitywhicharenotrelatedtomentalhealthcrisisordiagnosishavebeenidentified,isirrationalityameaningfuldiagnosticsymptomofmentalhealthcrisis?

“‘Them and Us’ no longer: mental health concerns us all’ https://tinyurl.com/m4reading1 “Models of Mental Health: A Critique and Prospectus” https://tinyurl.com/m4reading2

(Optional) readings for next session

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Social bias (references) 1)  Dovidio,J.F.,Kawakami,K.,Johnson,C.,etal.(1997).OntheNatureofPrejudice:

AutomaticandControlledProcesses.JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology,33(5),510–540;McConnell,A.R.,&Leibold,J.M.(2001).RelationsamongtheImplicitAssociationTest,DiscriminatoryBehavior,andExplicitMeasuresofRacialAttitudes.JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology,37(5),435–442;Wilson,T.D.,Lindsey,S.,&Schooler,T.Y.(2000).AModelofDualAttitudes.PsychologicalReview,107(1),101–126.

2)  Uhlmann,E.,&Cohen,G.L.(2005).ConstructedCriteria:RedefiningMerittoJustifyDiscrimination.PsychologicalScience,16(6),474–480.

3)  Rooth,D.-O.(2007).ImplicitDiscriminationinHiring:RealWorldEvidence.(IZADiscussionPaperNo.2764).Bonn:ForschungsinstitutZurZukunftDerArbeit(InstitutefortheStudyofLabor).

4)  Link,B.G.,Phelan,J.C.,Bresnahan,M.,Stueve,A.,&Pescosolido,B.A.(1999).Publicconceptionsofmentalillness:labels,causes,dangerousness,andsocialdistance.Americanjournalofpublichealth,89,9,1328-1333;Corrigan,P.W.,&Watson,A.C.(2002).Understandingtheimpactofstigmaonpeoplewithmentalillness.Worldpsychiatry,1,1,16-20.