What Makes a Commitment Rational?

Completing grad school, picking up a new instrument, getting in shape, marriage, and religious commitment all require the ability to keep a commitment over time. What makes these kinds of commitments rational? When should we give them up?

In this talk, I examine three attitudes: belief, faith, and hope. I argue that all three attitudes can play the same role in rational commitment. First, I explain two models of rational action—the decision-theory model and the belief-desire model. Both models entail there are two components of rational action: an epistemic component and a conative component. Then, using this framework, I show how belief, faith, and hope that p can all make it rational to accept, or act as if, p. I conclude by showing how my picture can explain how action-oriented commitments can be rational over time, both in the face of counterevidence and in the face of waning affections.

This paper was presented at the World Congress of Philosophy in August 2018.

This paper was published in Mind. You can download it for free here: https://philpapers.org/rec/JACBFA

0:00 Talk
30:45 Q&A

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