Abstract
This comment on Professor Etzioni's essay consists of three parts. First, it suggests that much of the evidence he describes, both for and against the rationality hypothesis, is much weaker than it appears. Second, it discusses some additional evidence that poses difficulty for the narrow rationalist view. Finally, it examines Etzioni's “caring and sharing” evidence, which poses the sharpest challenge of all to the rationalists. It suggests that although “caring and sharing” is indeed irrational by the conventional standard, there are good reasons why someone who is purely self-interested might wish to become a caring and sharing person. To be such a person, it argues, is to be “shrewdly irrational.”
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Frank, R.H. Shrewdly irrational. Sociol Forum 2, 21–41 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01107892
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01107892