That’s a great analysis, and it should bring more clarity to our discussions if we can all agree on that or modify it as necessary until we basically agree.
One thing I am wondering about though is that the analysis seems to present the two subspecies of rationality—epistemic and instrumental—as being on equal footing, or as somehow equally fundamental. (That’s my reading based on labeling them as 1 and 2 and not indicating that either is more fundamental.)
It seems to me though that instrumental rationality is what we really, really mean by rationality, and what you have referred to as epistemic rationality is one particular (astoundingly powerful) technique of instrumental rationality.
There are always multiple ways of mapping the territory. We have no way of deciding between them other than in terms of instrumental rationality, by choosing the one that seems most useful for achieving our values.… We might call that most useful map truth or corresponding to reality, but it only acquires that status via instrumental rationality. Epistemic rationality thus depends on instrumental rationality, but the converse is not true.
That’s a great analysis, and it should bring more clarity to our discussions if we can all agree on that or modify it as necessary until we basically agree.
One thing I am wondering about though is that the analysis seems to present the two subspecies of rationality—epistemic and instrumental—as being on equal footing, or as somehow equally fundamental. (That’s my reading based on labeling them as 1 and 2 and not indicating that either is more fundamental.)
It seems to me though that instrumental rationality is what we really, really mean by rationality, and what you have referred to as epistemic rationality is one particular (astoundingly powerful) technique of instrumental rationality.
There are always multiple ways of mapping the territory. We have no way of deciding between them other than in terms of instrumental rationality, by choosing the one that seems most useful for achieving our values.… We might call that most useful map truth or corresponding to reality, but it only acquires that status via instrumental rationality. Epistemic rationality thus depends on instrumental rationality, but the converse is not true.