Group Rationality in Scientific Research

Preface		page ix
Acknowledgments		xiii
1	The Overview	1
	I. The Plan of the Book	6
	II. Group to Individual, or Vice Versa?	13
	III. The Williams Problem and Utopias	18
2	Group Rationality: A Unique Problem	24
	I. Not an Evolutionary Problem	25
	II. Not a Game Theory Problem	31
	III. Ramsey and Group Rationality	40
3	The Problem Explored: Sen’s Way	47
	I. Consistency, Ordering, and Rationality	48
	II. Other Notions of Rationality and Scientific Welfare	52
	III. The Sen-Problems of Group Rationality	56
	IV. The Problem Defined	67
4	The Skeptical View	69
	I. The Democratic Councils	70
	II. No Covenant, a Tale	77
	III. Multiply, Multiply, Multiply	83
	IV. Positive Arguments	88
	V. Negative Arguments	97
	VI. The Route to the Goal	100
5	The Subjectivist View I	107
	I. Individuals, Group, and Goals	108
	II. Divisions and Discrepancies	114
	III. A Society of Ruthless Egoists	118
	IV. Theory Choice	123
	V. Problems and a Paradox	126
6	The Subjectivist View II	136
	I. Values and Individuals	137
	II. Group Transitions and Risk Distribution	149
	III. History, Values, and Representative Groups	154
	IV. Negotiations in the Scientists’ Original Position	163
	V. The City of Man?	174
7	The Objectivist View	181
	I. Two Objectivist Problems	182
	II. Toward the Best Available Method	185
	III. The Best Available Method	188
	IV. Is the Single Method Sufficient?	191
	V. A New Problem of Demarcation	195
	VI. Illustration: The Herbalist Tradition	200
	VII. The Scare of Saint-Simon	203
8	Putnam, Individual Rationality, and Peirce’s Puzzle	212
	I. Democracy and Group Rationality	213
	II. Moral Images, Scientific Images	216
	III. Method, Historical Knowledge, and Reason	223
	IV. Peirce’s Puzzle	226
	V. Ultimately, Relativism?	234
	VI. What Lies at Bedrock	240
9	The Nine Problems	243
	I. The Problem, the Common Aim of Science, and the Basic Structure	244
	II. The Council, Reasoning, and Allegiance	252
	III. The Universal Law of Rationality, the Worth of Science, and Utopias	260
Bibliography		267
Name Index		275
Subject Index		280

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Husain Sarkar

Louisiana State University

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