The Science of Reason: A Festschrift for Jonathan St B.T. Evans (Psychology Press Festschrift Series) - Hardcover

"Our understanding of human reasoning has undergone revolutionary change over the past four decades and those changes have largely paralleled Jonathan Evans’ scientific work. The papers in this collection reflect Jonathan’s current interests and thus offer an excellent representation of the state of the field. Contributors are all leading figures who cover the big issues, from the meaning of "if" to the reality and nature of dual reasoning systems to questions of human rationality." - Steven Sloman, Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University USA

"This book offers an interesting combination of surveys, speculation, and new material. Scholars of reasoning will be interested to read about where the field might be heading, while newcomers will benefit from solid surveys by well-established experts. This festschrift stands as an accurate snapshot of what has happened, is currently happening and what may occur in the future of cognitive psychology of reasoning." - Jean François Bonnefon, Université de Toulouse and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France

"This book contains a good mix of theoretical discussions and empirical reports. The chapters are clearly and engagingly written, and the book is a useful, highly readable, and comprehensive overview of some of the latest developments in the psychology of thinking." - N.Y. Louis Lee, Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR of China

This volume is a state-of-the-art survey of the psychology of reasoning, based around, and in tribute to, one of the field’s most eminent figures: Jonathan St B.T. Evans.

In this collection of cutting edge research, Evans’ collaborators and colleagues review a wide range of important and developing areas of inquiry. These include biases in thinking, probabilistic and causal reasoning, people’s use of ‘if’ sentences in arguments, the dual-process theory of thought, and the nature of human rationality. These foundational issues are examined from various angles and finally integrated in a concluding panoramic chapter written by Evans himself.

The eighteen chapters, all written by leading international researchers, combine state-of the-art research with investigation into the most fundamental questions surrounding human mental life, such as:

• What is the architecture of the human mind?
• Are humans rational, and what is the nature of this rationality?
• How do we think hypothetically?

The Science of Reason offers a unique combination of breadth, depth and integrative vision, making it an indispensable resource for researchers and students of human reason.