Volume V of the Middle Way Philosophy Series, to be published by Equinox early 2026

Human judgement is constantly distorted by biases that are due to the biological, social and cultural conditions of our lives. Cognitive psychology has identified a large number of these, whilst the critical thinking tradition has also found closely related fallacies. However, our response to these biases and fallacies is rarely considered as part of a whole personal practice. This book explores how the Middle Way can help us find the best practical response to our biases: neither believing our biased judgements uncritically, nor reacting against them to dismiss all judgement. The underlying problem of biased judgement is argued not to be one of ‘irrationality’, but of conflict created by absolutization (assuming we have the whole story). This conflict can be addressed effectively through Middle Way practices, as introduced in the earlier volumes of this series. The book offers a helpful overview and categorization of a wide range of biases and fallacies, seeking to identify balanced approaches to all of them in relation to each other.

Contents

Introduction
1. Bias and Absolutization

a. Bias and Biased Judgement
b. Confirmation and Its Defence
c. Fallacy and Bias
d. Absolutizing Biased Judgement
e. Absolutizing Reactions against Bias
f. Embodied Meaning, Bias, and Provisionality
g. Faith, Confidence and Doubt
h. Group Authority and Bias
i. Absolutizing Sources
j. Idealized Models and Metaphysical Dogmas

2. Biases of Meaning

a. Anchoring and Availability
b. Framing
c. Repression and Manipulation
d. False Dichotomy
e. Optimism and Pessimism
f. Association Fallacies and Sympathetic Magic
g. Ambiguity Aversion
h. Fake Precision and Absolutized Definitions
i. Equivocation and Ad Hoc Thinking
j. Metaphor and Weak Analogies

3. Biases of Subject and Object

a. Projection and Overconfidence
b. Generalization and Straw Man
c. Categorization Biases
d. Appeals to Ignorance
e. Causal Biases
f. Information Bias and Nirvana Fallacy
g. Views of Other People
h. Views of Ourselves
i. How We Think Others See Us

4. Biases of Space and Time

a. Domain Dependence
b. Getting Stuck in the Past
c. Forgetting the Past
d. Discounting the Future
e. Idealizing the Future
f. Errors in Probabilizing and Probability

5. Biases of Value

a. Value Biases in General
b. Aesthetic Biases
c. Biases of Desire and Pleasure
d. Authority, Rules and Freedom
e. Justice: Absolute and Relative

6. Biases of Responsibility

a. Total and Zero Responsibility Fallacies
b. Actor/ Observer Biases
c. Action and Omission
d. Responsibility and Time
e. Responsibility and Effort
f. The Formalism of Choice

Conclusion: The Critical Practice of Contextualization
Bibliography