"The premise of this statement is what one might call the principle of non-indirection. I call “indirection” an indirect operation that makes it possible to arrive at a certain result through two successive actions, the first of which serves only to make the second possible. ... This principle is not limited to rational actions. ... The principle of non-indirection thus expresses a broader idea of coherence that includes the emotional as well as the rational."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jon_Elster
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Jon Elster
12 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jon Elster →
Related Quotes
"Acting in conformity with reason, in the singular, and acting for good reasons, in the plural, are two different thin…"
"The idea that reason requires an impartial treatment of individuals corresponds to well-known principles. To resolve …"
"Let us take first an absurd example: always preferring goods that come on Thursdays to those that come on Wednesdays,…"
"Characterized in this way, interest properly understood is an amalgam of objective and subjective elements. An entire…"
"In this reconstruction, the idea of reason comprises three elements: impartiality with regard to persons, temporal im…"
"In a general way, we can represent the present value of a future good as a function of the time separating the presen…"
"For action to be rational, the beliefs on which it is based must themselves be well founded. In turn, this requiremen…"
"Biases are either “hot” (that is, produced by the agent’s motivational system) or “cold” (more similar to optical ill…"
"For a rational actor, the information he uses to shape his beliefs is a variable rather than a given. Before deciding…"
"The theory of rational action may therefore fail, because it is unable to produce unique prescriptions and prediction…"