Rationality and Value

Recently, thinkers such as Hillary Putnam, Bas van Fraassen, and Amartya Sen have discussed the entangled nature of rationality and value. Understood broadly, rationality concerns the subjection of one's choices concerning actions and values to principled scrutiny. Unfortunately, it is common to encounter rather formulaic characterizations of rationality concerning internal consistency of choice, expected utility maximization, or self-interested behavior in the literature--all of which drastically circumscribe the structure and role of values in rational decision-making. The organizing committee encourages contributions that move beyond these more restrictive understandings of rationality and value.

In particular, relevant sub-disciplines of philosophy for this topic include:

• Ethics
• Inference Theory
• Epistemology
• Philosophy of Science, especially
  • Belief Revision/Fixation
  • Theory Selection/Generation
  • Under-Determinatio
• Philosophy of Mind and Cognition

Also relevant are philosophical approaches to

• Theoretical Economics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Decision Sciences

Papers on other topics will also be considered.

Paper Submissions

Extended Deadline: February 4, 2006 (*Note the new date!*)

Length: Papers should be presented in
             20-25 minutes

Format: Please send paper as a word
             file (.doc) or (.pdf) attachment to:
             cmu.pitt2006@gmail.com

Papers should not have the author's name on it and should include an abstract (250 words). Please include a cover letter with submitter's name, institution, address, e-mail, telephone number, and title of paper. Please only one paper per person, so ensure that the paper submitted is the one you want us to consider.

Depending on funding, travel grants may be awarded to speakers with financial difficulties.

Notifications for acceptance will be sent out by Wednesday, February 22, 2006.