Art of Self-Persuasion: The Social Explanation of False Beliefs

The Art of Self-Persuasion is a major contribution to the analysis of beliefs. Through the elaboration of the notion of good reasons', it also makes a significant contribution to the theory of rationality.Boudon examines the main theories that have been used in the social sciences and psychology for the explanation of beliefs. He develops a particular model which shows that people often have good reasons to believe in false ideas. Boudon shows that this model can be used to reinterpret many findings from the sociology of religion and the sociology of knowledge, as well as from cognitive psychology. It can also show how scientific arguments can lead to false or fragile beliefs -- in short, beliefs in false ideas are often grounded in serious arguments.Boudon, Raymond is the author of 'Art of Self-Persuasion: The Social Explanation of False Beliefs', published 1994 under ISBN 9780745608983 and ISBN 0745608981.