Over the past few decades, psychologists have discovered that human reasoning is defective in surprising ways. We are beset by numerous biases and heuristics, which lead us to reason poorly about things that matter to us. And while there are illuminating evolutionary explanations for how these biases and heuristics may have benefited our species in its phylogeny, psychologists are unanimous that these cognitive dispositions largely corrupt rather than aid our belief-forming practices. In Winning Votes by Abusing Reason: Political Rhetoric and Responsible Belief, Jamie Watson argues that political rhetoric, rather than helping us overcome these defects, exacerbates them. And standard attempts to address this problem, such as deliberative democracy and paternalism, tend to either exclude citizens from important decisions or give them the illusion of reasoning well, perpetuating poor and irresponsible political beliefs. This book concludes that, rather than attempt more political solutions, the most promising approach to forming and preserving responsible political beliefs is to adopt individual principles of epistemic caution. The author brings together insights from political philosophy, social epistemology, behavioral psychology, and agnotology to suggest how we might protect our belief-forming behavior from the corrosive effects of political rhetoric. Recommended for scholars of philosophy, rhetoric, political science, and communications.
Over the past few decades, psychologists have discovered that human reasoning is defective in surprising ways. We are beset by numerous biases and heuristics, which lead us to reason poorly about things that matter to us. And while there are illuminating evolutionary explanations for how these biases and heuristics may have benefited our species in its phylogeny, psychologists are unanimous that these cognitive dispositions largely corrupt rather than aid our belief-forming practices. In Winning Votes by Abusing Reason: Political Rhetoric and Responsible Belief, Jamie Watson argues that political rhetoric, rather than helping us overcome these defects, exacerbates them. And standard attempts to address this problem, such as deliberative democracy and paternalism, tend to either exclude citizens from important decisions or give them the illusion of reasoning well, perpetuating poor and irresponsible political beliefs. This book concludes that, rather than attempt more political solutions, the most promising approach to forming and preserving responsible political beliefs is to adopt individual principles of epistemic caution. The author brings together insights from political philosophy, social epistemology, behavioral psychology, and agnotology to suggest how we might protect our belief-forming behavior from the corrosive effects of political rhetoric. Recommended for scholars of philosophy, rhetoric, political science, and communications.
Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Rhetorical Strategy and Responsible Belief
Chapter 1. Social Epistemology and Political Rhetoric
Chapter 2. Learning from Politicians
Part 2: The Problem of Political Rhetoric
Chapter 3. User Error: Common Fallacies in Political Rhetoric
Chapter 4. Hardware Glitches: Cognitive Biases and Heuristics in
Politics
Chapter 5. System Failure: Social Biases
Chapter 6. Political and Moral Expertise
Part 3: Forming Responsible Political Beliefs
Chapter 7. Knowing and Voting: Democratic Solutions
Chapter 8. Nudges and Shoves: Paternalistic Solutions
Chapter 9. Epistemic Virtue and Individual Responsibility
Bibliography
About the Author
Jamie Carlin Watson is assistant professor of philosophy at Broward College.
If there is anything that characterizes contemporary political
discourse it is that everyone is so confident about almost
everything. Jamie Watson shows us why this is a mistake and how we
can fix it.
*Brandon Warmke, Bowling Green State University*
The problem of political ignorance is pervasive and stubborn. It
affects political discourse, political behavior, and voting, and it
negatively affects political outcomes. Jamie Watson's book is
original both in its diagnoses and its recommendations. Without any
doubt, this is a valuable contribution to the literature.
*Fernando R. Tesón, Florida State University College of Law*
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |