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Single Idea 22666

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / a. Rationality ]

Full Idea

If a mother is presented with convincing evidence that her son has committed a grave crime, but were she to believe it that would make her life thereafter miserable, is it rational for her to believe her son is guilty?

Gist of Idea

Is it rational to believe a truth which leads to permanent misery?

Source

Robert Nozick (The Nature of Rationality [1993], p.69)

Book Ref

Nozick,Robert: 'The Nature of Rationality' [Princeton 1995], p.69

A Reaction

I assume there is a conflict of rationalities, because there are conflicting ends. Presumably most mothers love the truth, but most of us also aim for happy lives. It is perfectly rational to avoid discovering a horrible family truth.

The 22 ideas from Robert Nozick

18648 Freedom to live according to our own conception of the good is the ultimate value [Nozick, by Kymlicka]
18641 If people hold things legitimately, just distribution is simply the result of free exchanges [Nozick, by Kymlicka]
20539 Property is legitimate by initial acquisition, voluntary transfer, or rectification of injustice [Nozick, by Swift]
18645 Nozick assumes initial holdings include property rights, but we can challenge that [Kymlicka on Nozick]
18646 How did the private property get started? If violence was involved, we can redistribute it [Kymlicka on Nozick]
18647 If property is only initially acquired by denying the rights of others, Nozick can't get started [Kymlicka on Nozick]
18643 A minimal state should protect, but a state forcing us to do more is unjustified [Nozick]
18642 Individual rights are so strong that the state and its officials must be very limited in power [Nozick]
18644 States can't enforce mutual aid on citizens, or interfere for their own good [Nozick]
20585 If an experience machine gives you any experience you want, should you hook up for life? [Nozick]
20521 Can I come to own the sea, by mixing my private tomato juice with it? [Nozick]
21737 Unowned things may be permanently acquired, if it doesn't worsen the position of other people [Nozick]
21738 Maybe land was originally collectively owned, rather than unowned? [Cohen,GA on Nozick]
22661 My Anarchy, State and Utopia neglected our formal social ties and concerns [Nozick on Nozick]
22662 In the instrumental view of rationality it only concerns means, and not ends [Nozick]
22663 Rationality is normally said to concern either giving reasons, or reliability [Nozick]
22664 I do not care if my trivial beliefs are false, and I have no interest in many truths [Nozick]
22665 Maybe James was depicting the value of truth, and not its nature [Nozick]
22666 Is it rational to believe a truth which leads to permanent misery? [Nozick]
22667 Rationality needs some self-consciousness, to also evaluate how we acquired our reasons [Nozick]
3570 Maybe knowledge is belief which 'tracks' the truth [Nozick, by Williams,M]
2748 A true belief isn't knowledge if it would be believed even if false. It should 'track the truth' [Nozick, by Dancy,J]