University of Pittsburgh Press
Cognitive Economy
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Cognitive Economy

The Economic Dimension of the Theory of Knowledge

By Nicholas Rescher
Rescher at his best. The arguments are strong and full of imagination, the applications of the model are precise and apt. This book should be required reading for those who serve on grant committees.
Robert Butts, University of Western Ontario
Paperback $45.00

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Cost, expected benefits, and risks are paramount in grant agencies' decisions to fund scientific research. In Cognitive Economy, Nicholas Rescher outlines a general theory for the cost-effective use of intellectual resources, amplifying the theories of Charles Sanders Pierce, who stressed an “economy of research.” Rescher discusses the requirements of cooperation, communication, cognitive importance, cognitive economy, as well as the economic factors bearing on induction and simplicity. He then applies his model to several case studies and to clarifying the limits imposed on science by economic considerations.

178 Pages, 6 x 9 in.

January, 2010

isbn : 9780822985204

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about the author

Nicholas Rescher

Nicholas Rescher was Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and co-chairman of the Center for Philosophy of Science. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he served as president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, the Leibniz Society of North America, the Charles S. Peirce Society, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the Metaphysical Society of America. Rescher was the author or editor of more than one hundred books, including Ignorance (On the Wider Implications of Deficient Knowledge), Philosophical Inquiries: An Introduction to Problems of Philosophy, and A Journey through Philosophy in 101 Anecdotes.

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Nicholas Rescher