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Philosophers defend theories of what well-being is but ignore what
psychologists have learned about it, while psychologists learn
about well-being but lack a theory of what it is. In The Good Life,
Michael Bishop brings together these complementary investigations
and proposes a powerful, new theory for understanding well-being.
The network theory holds that to have well-being is to be "stuck"
in a self-perpetuating cycle of positive emotions, attitudes,
traits and accomplishments. For someone with well-being, these
states - states such as joy and contentment, optimism and
adventurousness, extraversion and perseverance, strong
relationships, professional success and good health - build upon
and foster each other. They form a kind of positive causal network
(PCN), so that a person high in well-being finds herself in a
positive cycle or "groove." A person with a lesser degree of
well-being might possess only fragments of such a network - some
positive feelings, attitudes, traits or successes, but not enough
to kick start a full-blown, self-perpetuating network. Although
recent years have seen an explosion of psychological research into
well-being, this discipline, often called Positive Psychology, has
no consensus definition. The network theory provides a new
framework for understanding Positive Psychology. When psychologists
investigate correlations and causal connections among positive
emotions, attitudes, traits, and accomplishments, they are studying
the structure of PCNs. And when they identify states that
establish, strengthen or extinguish PCNs, they are studying the
dynamics of PCNs. Positive Psychology, then, is the study of the
structure and dynamics of positive causal networks. The Good Life
represents a new, inclusive approach to the study of well-being, an
approach committed to the proposition that discovering the nature
of well-being requires the knowledge and skills of both the
philosopher in her armchair and the scientist in her lab. The
resulting theory provides a powerful, unified foundation for future
scientific and philosophical investigations into well-being and the
good life.
Bishop and Trout here present a unique and provocative new approach
to epistemology (the theory of human knowledge and reasoning).
Their approach aims to liberate epistemology from the scholastic
debates of standard analytic epistemology, and treat it as a branch
of the philosophy of science. The approach is novel in its use of
cost-benefit analysis to guide people facing real reasoning
problems and in its framework for resolving normative disputes in
psychology. Based on empirical data, Bishop and Trout show how
people can improve their reasoning by relying on Statistical
Prediction Rules (SPRs). They then develop and articulate the
positive core of the book. Their view, Strategic Reliabilism,
claims that epistemic excellence consists in the efficient
allocation of cognitive resources to reliable reasoning strategies,
applied to significant problems. The last third of the book
develops the implications of this view for standard analytic
epistemology; for resolving normative disputes in psychology; and
for offering practical, concrete advice on how this theory can
improve real people's reasoning.
This is a truly distinctive and controversial work that spans many
disciplines and will speak to an unusually diverse group, including
people in epistemology, philosophy of science, decision theory,
cognitive and clinical psychology, and ethics and public policy.
Bishop and Trout here present a unique and provocative new approach
to epistemology (the theory of human knowledge and reasoning).
Their approach aims to liberate epistemology from the scholastic
debates of standard analytic epistemology, and treat it as a branch
of the philosophy of science. The approach is novel in its use of
cost-benefit analysis to guide people facing real reasoning
problems and in its framework for resolving normative disputes in
psychology. Based on empirical data, Bishop and Trout show how
people can improve their reasoning by relying on Statistical
Prediction Rules (SPRs). They then develop and articulate the
positive core of the book. Their view, Strategic Reliabilism,
claims that epistemic excellence consists in the efficient
allocation of cognitive resources to reliable reasoning strategies,
applied to significant problems. The last third of the book
develops the implications of this view for standard analytic
epistemology; for resolving normative disputes in psychology; and
for offering practical, concrete advice on how this theory can
improve real people's reasoning.
This is a truly distinctive and controversial work that spans many
disciplines and will speak to an unusually diverse group, including
people in epistemology, philosophy of science, decision theory,
cognitive and clinical psychology, and ethics and public policy.
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