Research Catalog

Title

Irrationality : a history of the dark side of reason / Justin E.H. Smith.

Author

Smith, Justin E. H.

Publication

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2019]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 330 pages : illustration; 25 cm

Summary

It's a story we can't stop telling ourselves. Once, humans were benighted by superstition and irrationality, but then the Greeks invented reason. Later, the Enlightenment enshrined rationality as the supreme value. Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the "rational animal." But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today--from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump--Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite. From sex and music to religion and war, irrationality makes up the greater part of human life and history. Rich and ambitious, Irrationality ranges across philosophy, politics, and current events. Challenging conventional thinking about logic, natural reason, dreams, art and science, pseudoscience, the Enlightenment, the internet, jokes and lies, and death, the book shows how history reveals that any triumph of reason is temporary and reversible, and that rational schemes, notably including many from Silicon Valley, often result in their polar opposite. The problem is that the rational gives birth to the irrational and vice versa in an endless cycle, and any effort to permanently set things in order sooner or later ends in an explosion of unreason. Because of this, it is irrational to try to eliminate irrationality. For better or worse, it is an ineradicable feature of life. Illuminating unreason at a moment when the world appears to have gone mad again, Irrationality is fascinating, provocative, and timely.

Subject

• Practical reason
• Irrationalism (Philosophy)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (313-324) and index.

Contents

Preamble. A mathematician's murder -- Introduction -- The self-devouring octopus; or, logic -- "No-brainers"; or, reason in nature -- The sleep of reason; or, dreams -- Dreams into things; or, art -- "I believe because it is absurd"; or, pseudoscience -- Enlightenment; or, myth -- The human beast; or, the Internet -- Explosions; or, jokes and lies -- The impossible syllogism; or, death -- Conclusion.

Call Number

JFE 19-9736

ISBN

• 9780691178677
• 0691178674

LCCN

2018953426

OCLC

1051133820

Author

Smith, Justin E. H., author.

Title

Irrationality : a history of the dark side of reason / Justin E.H. Smith.

Publisher

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2019]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Creator/Contributor Characteristics

Gender group: Men

Nationality/regional group: Americans

Occupational/field of activity group: University and college faculty members

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (313-324) and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 19-9736