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{{Short description|Quality of being agreeable to reason}}
{{redirect|Rational|the mathematical property of some numbers|Rational number|other uses|text=Not to be confused with [[Rationale (disambiguation)|Rationale]]}}{{For|the use and formalization of rationality in [[economics]] and [[mathematics]]|decision theory}}{{Distinguish|Rationalism}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Epistemology sidebar}}
'''Rationality''' is the [[Quality (philosophy)|quality]] of being guided by or based on [[reason]]. In this regard, a person [[Action (philosophy)|acts]] rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a [[belief]] is rational if it is based on strong [[evidence]]. This quality can apply to an ability, as in a [[rational animal]], to a psychological [[process]], like [[Logical reasoning|reasoning]], to [[mental state]]s, such as
There are many discussions about the [[Essence|essential features]] shared by all forms of rationality. According to reason-responsiveness accounts, to be rational is to be responsive to reasons. For example, dark clouds are a reason for taking an [[umbrella]], which is why it is rational for an agent to do so in response. An important rival to this approach are coherence-based accounts, which define rationality as internal coherence among the agent's mental states. Many rules of coherence have been suggested in this regard, for example, that one should not hold [[contradictory]] beliefs or that one should intend to do something if one believes that one should do it. Goal-based accounts characterize rationality in relation to goals, such as acquiring [[truth]] in the case of theoretical rationality. [[Internalism and externalism|Internalists]] believe that rationality depends only on the person's [[mind]]. Externalists contend that external factors may also be relevant. Debates about the [[normativity]] of rationality concern the question of whether one should always be rational. A further discussion is whether rationality requires that all beliefs be reviewed from scratch rather than trusting pre-existing beliefs.
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== Definition and semantic field ==
In its most common sense, rationality is the quality of being guided by reasons or being reasonable.<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Broome2021"/><ref>{{cite web
These different forms of rationality are sometimes divided into [[abilities]], [[process]]es, [[mental state]]s, and persons.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Rysiew2012"/><ref name="Mittelstraß2005"/> For example, when it is claimed that humans are [[rational animal]]s, this usually refers to the ability to [[think]] and act in reasonable ways. It does not imply that all humans are rational all the time: this ability is exercised in some cases but not in others.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Rysiew2012"/><ref name="Mittelstraß2005"/> On the other hand, the term can also refer to the process of reasoning that results from exercising this ability. Often many additional activities of the higher cognitive faculties are included as well, such as acquiring concepts, [[judging]], [[Deliberation|deliberating]], planning, and deciding as well as the formation of desires and intentions. These processes usually affect some kind of change in the thinker's mental states. In this regard, one can also talk of the rationality of mental states, like beliefs and intentions.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/> A person who possesses these forms of rationality to a sufficiently high degree may themselves be called ''rational''.<ref name="Moser2006"/> In some cases, also non-mental results of rational processes may qualify as rational. For example, the arrangement of products in a supermarket can be rational if it is based on a rational plan.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Broome2021"/>
The term "rational" has two opposites: ''[[irrational]]'' and ''arational''. Arational things are outside the domain of rational evaluation, like digestive processes or the weather. Things within the domain of rationality are either rational or irrational depending on whether they fulfill the standards of rationality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nolfi |first1=Kate |title=Which Mental States Are Rationally Evaluable, And Why? |journal=Philosophical Issues |date=2015 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=41–63 |doi=10.1111/phis.12051 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/NOLWMS |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2021-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605114441/https://philpapers.org/rec/NOLWMS |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mele2004a"/> For example, beliefs, actions, or general policies are rational if there is a good reason for them and irrational otherwise. It is not clear in all cases what belongs to the domain of rational assessment. For example, there are disagreements about whether desires and [[emotion]]s can be evaluated as rational and irrational rather than arational.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/> The term "irrational" is sometimes used in a wide sense to include cases of arationality.<ref>{{cite web |title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: irrational |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=irrational&submit.x=58&submit.y=14 |website=www.ahdictionary.com |access-date=10 August 2022 |archive-date=12 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812182349/https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=irrational&submit.x=58&submit.y=14 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The meaning of the terms "rational" and "irrational" in academic discourse often differs from how they are used in everyday language. Examples of behaviors considered irrational in ordinary discourse are giving into [[temptation]]s, going out late even though one has to get up early in the morning, smoking despite being aware of the health risks, or believing in [[astrology]].<ref name="Harman2013"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Grim |first1=Patrick |title=Philosophy of Science and the Occult: Second Edition |date=17 July 1990 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0498-1 |page=28 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VewAkDw8h0C&pg=PA28 |language=en |chapter=On Dismissing Astrology and Other Irrationalities |access-date=3 September 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142143/https://books.google.com/books?id=5VewAkDw8h0C&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> In the academic discourse, on the other hand, rationality is usually identified with being guided by reasons or following norms of internal coherence. Some of the earlier examples may qualify as rational in the academic sense depending on the circumstances. Examples of irrationality in this sense include [[cognitive bias]]es
The terms "rationality", "[[reason]]", and "reasoning" are frequently used as synonyms. But in technical contexts, their meanings are often distinguished.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Harman2013"/><ref name="Moser2006"/> Reason is usually understood as the faculty responsible for the process of reasoning.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref>Mosterín, Jesús (2008). ''Lo mejor posible: Racionalidad y acción humana''. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2008. 318 pp. {{ISBN|978-84-206-8206-8}}.</ref> This process aims at improving mental states. Reasoning tries to ensure that the norms of rationality obtain. It differs from rationality nonetheless since other psychological processes besides reasoning may have the same effect.<ref name="Mele2004a"/> Rationality derives etymologically from the Latin term ''{{lang|la|rationalitas}}''.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
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A common idea of many theories of rationality is that it can be defined in terms of reasons. On this view, to be rational means to respond correctly to reasons.<ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Heinzelmann2022"/> For example, the fact that a food is healthy is a reason to eat it. So this reason makes it rational for the agent to eat the food.<ref name="Heinzelmann2022"/> An important aspect of this interpretation is that it is not sufficient to merely act accidentally in accordance with reasons. Instead, ''responding'' to reasons implies that one acts [[Intention|intentionally]] because of these reasons.<ref name="Broome2021"/>
Some theorists understand reasons as external facts. This view has been criticized based on the claim that, in order to respond to reasons, people have to be aware of them, i.e.
A problem faced by all forms of reason-responsiveness theories is that there are usually many reasons relevant and some of them may conflict with each other. So while salmonella contamination is a reason against eating the fish, its good taste and the desire not to offend the host are reasons in favor of eating it. This problem is usually approached by weighing all the different reasons. This way, one does not respond directly to each reason individually but instead to their [[weighted sum]]. Cases of conflict are thus solved since one side usually outweighs the other. So despite the reasons cited in favor of eating the fish, the balance of reasons stands against it, since avoiding a salmonella infection is a much weightier reason than the other reasons cited.<ref name="Broome2007"/><ref name="Kiesewetter2017"/> This can be expressed by stating that rational agents pick the option favored by the balance of reasons.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="McClennen2004"/>
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=== Based on goals ===
A different approach characterizes rationality in relation to the goals it aims to achieve.<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Pinker2022"/> In this regard, theoretical rationality aims at epistemic goals, like acquiring [[truth]] and avoiding falsehood. Practical rationality, on the other hand, aims at non-epistemic goals, like [[moral]], prudential, political, economic, or [[aesthetic]] goals. This is usually understood in the sense that rationality follows these goals but does not set them. So rationality may be understood as a "[[minister without portfolio]]" since it serves goals external to itself.<ref name="Moser2006"/> This issue has been the source of an important historical discussion between [[David Hume]] and [[Immanuel Kant]]. The slogan of Hume's position is that "reason is the slave of the passions". This is often understood as the claim that rationality concerns only how to reach a goal but not whether the goal should be pursued at all. So people with perverse or weird goals may still be perfectly rational. This position is opposed by Kant, who argues that rationality requires having the right goals and [[motivation|motives]].<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Michael |editor-first1=Alfred R |editor-first2=Piers |editor-last1=Mele |editor-last2=Rawling |title=The Oxford Handbook of Rationality |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514539-7 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195145399.001.0001/acprof-9780195145397-chapter-5 |chapter=HUMEAN RATIONALITY |doi=10.1093/0195145399.001.0001 |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2023-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142147/https://academic.oup.com/oxford-scholarship-online |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Neill |first1=Onora |editor-first1=Alfred R |editor-first2=Piers |editor-last1=Mele |editor-last2=Rawling |title=The Oxford Handbook of Rationality |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514539-7 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195145399.001.0001/acprof-9780195145397-chapter-6 |chapter=KANT: Rationality as Practical Reason |doi=10.1093/0195145399.001.0001 |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2023-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142134/https://academic.oup.com/oxford-scholarship-online |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kolb2008"/><ref name="Moser2006"/>
According to [[William Frankena]] there are four conceptions of rationality based on the goals it tries to achieve. They correspond to [[egoism]], [[utilitarianism]], [[Perfectionism (philosophy)|perfectionism]], and [[Ethical intuitionism|intuitionism]].<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Frankena1983"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Wenceslao J. |title=New Perspectives on Technology, Values, and Ethics: Theoretical and Practical |date=8 October 2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-21870-0 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gO0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |language=en |access-date=14 August 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142157/https://books.google.com/books?id=1gO0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the egoist perspective, rationality implies looking out for one's own [[happiness]]. This contrasts with the utilitarian point of view, which states that rationality entails trying to contribute to everyone's [[well-being]] or to the greatest general good. For perfectionism, a certain ideal of perfection, either moral or non-moral, is the goal of rationality. According to the intuitionist perspective, something is rational "if and only if [it] conforms to self-evident truths, intuited by reason".<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Frankena1983"/> These different perspectives diverge a lot concerning the behavior they prescribe. One problem for all of them is that they ignore the role of the evidence or information possessed by the agent. In this regard, it matters for rationality not just whether the agent acts efficiently towards a certain goal but also what information they have and how their actions appear reasonable from this perspective. [[Richard Brandt]] responds to this idea by proposing a conception of rationality based on relevant information: "Rationality is a matter of what would survive scrutiny by all relevant information."<ref name="Moser2006"/> This implies that the subject repeatedly reflects on all the relevant facts, including formal facts like the laws of logic.<ref name="Moser2006"/>
=== Internalism and externalism ===
An important contemporary discussion in the field of rationality is between [[Internalism and externalism|internalists and externalists]].<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Langsam2008"/><ref name="Finlay2008"/> Both sides agree that rationality demands and depends in some sense on reasons. They disagree on what reasons are relevant or how to conceive those reasons. Internalists understand reasons as mental states, for example, as perceptions, beliefs, or desires. On this view, an action may be rational because it is in tune with the agent's beliefs and realizes their desires. Externalists, on the other hand, see reasons as external factors about what is good or right. They state that whether an action is rational also depends on its actual consequences.<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Langsam2008"/><ref name="Finlay2008"/> The difference between the two positions is that internalists affirm and externalists reject the claim that rationality supervenes on the mind. This claim means that it only depends on the person's mind whether they are rational and not on external factors. So for internalism, two persons with the same mental states would both have the same degree of rationality independent of how different their external situation is. Because of this limitation, rationality can diverge from actuality. So if the agent has a lot of misleading evidence, it may be rational for them to turn left even though the actually correct path goes right.<ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Moser2006"/>
[[Bernard Williams]] has criticized externalist conceptions of rationality based on the claim that rationality should help explain what motivates the agent to act. This is easy for internalism but difficult for externalism since external reasons can be independent of the agent's motivation.<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kriegel |first1=Uri |title=Normativity and Rationality: Bernard Williams on Reasons for Action |journal=Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly / עיון: רבעון פילוסופי |date=1999 |volume=48 |pages=281–292 |jstor=23352588 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23352588 |issn=0021-3306 |access-date=2022-08-18 |archive-date=2022-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818102627/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23352588 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Chappell |first1=Sophie-Grace |last2=Smyth |first2=Nicholas |title=Bernard Williams: 5. Internal and external reasons |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/williams-bernard/#InteExteReas |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=10 August 2022 |date=2018 |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710193743/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/williams-bernard/#InteExteReas |url-status=live }}</ref> Externalists have responded to this objection by distinguishing between [[Motivation#Motivational reasons and rationality|motivational and normative reasons]].<ref name="Moser2006"/> Motivational reasons explain why someone acts the way they do while normative reasons explain why someone ought to act in a certain way. Ideally, the two overlap, but they can come apart. For example, liking chocolate cake is a motivational reason for eating it while having [[high blood pressure]] is a normative reason for not eating it.<ref>{{cite web |vauthors
==== Relativity ====
An important implication of internalist conceptions is that rationality is relative to the person's perspective or mental states. Whether a belief or an action is rational usually depends on which mental states the person has. So carrying an umbrella for the walk to the supermarket is rational for a person believing that it will rain but irrational for another person who lacks this belief.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Precis"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=J. Adam |last2=McKenna |first2=Robin |title=Routledge Handbook to Relativism |date=2019 |publisher=London, U.K.: Routledge |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/CARRAE-9 |chapter=Relativism and Externalism |access-date=2022-08-18 |archive-date=2022-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818103039/https://philpapers.org/rec/CARRAE-9 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Robert Audi]], this can be explained in terms of [[experience]]: what is rational depends on the agent's experience. Since different people make different experiences, there are differences in what is rational for them.<ref name="Precis"/>
=== Normativity ===
Rationality is [[Normativity|normative]] in the sense that it sets up certain rules or standards of correctness: to be rational is to comply with certain requirements.<ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Heinzelmann2022"/><ref name="Pinker2022"/> For example, rationality requires that the agent does not have [[contradictory]] beliefs. Many discussions on this issue concern the question of what exactly these standards are. Some theorists characterize the normativity of rationality in the deontological terms of [[obligation]]s and [[Permission (philosophy)|permissions]]. Others understand them from an evaluative perspective as good or valuable. A further approach is to talk of rationality based on what is praise- and blameworthy.<ref name="Moser2006"/> It is important to distinguish the norms of rationality from other types of norms. For example, some forms of [[fashion]] prescribe that men do not wear [[Bell-bottoms|bell-bottom trousers]]. Understood in the strongest sense, a norm prescribes what an agent ought to do or what they have most reason to do. The norms of fashion are not norms in this strong sense: that it is unfashionable does not mean that men ought not to wear bell-bottom trousers.<ref name="Broome2021"/>
Most discussions of the normativity of rationality are interested in the strong sense, i.e. whether agents ought always to be rational.<ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Kiesewetter2017"/><ref name="Broome2007"/><ref name="Salas"/> This is sometimes termed a substantive account of rationality in contrast to structural accounts.<ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Heinzelmann2022"/> One important argument in favor of the normativity of rationality is based on considerations of praise- and blameworthiness. It states that we usually hold each other responsible for being rational and criticize each other when we fail to do so. This practice indicates that irrationality is some form of fault on the side of the subject that should not be the case.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kiesewetter |first1=Benjamin |title=Précis Zu The Normativity of Rationality |journal=Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung |date=2017 |volume=71 |issue=4 |pages=560–4 |doi=10.3196/004433017822228923 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/KIEPZT |access-date=2021-06-07 |archive-date=2021-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607055013/https://philpapers.org/rec/KIEPZT |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Salas"/> A strong counterexample to this position is due to [[John Broome (philosopher)|John Broome]], who considers the case of a fish an agent wants to eat. It contains salmonella, which is a decisive reason why the agent ought not to eat it. But the agent is unaware of this fact, which is why it is rational for them to eat the fish.<ref name="Broome2007"/><ref name="Kiesewetter2017"/> So this would be a case where normativity and rationality come apart. This example can be generalized in the sense that rationality only depends on the reasons accessible to the agent or how things appear to them. What one ought to do, on the other hand, is determined by objectively existing reasons.<ref name="Littlejohn "/><ref name="Salas"/> In the ideal case, rationality and normativity may coincide but they come apart either if the agent lacks access to a reason or if he has a mistaken belief about the presence of a reason. These considerations are summed up in the statement that rationality [[supervene]]s only on the agent's [[mind]] but normativity does not.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Broome |first1=John |title=Rationality vs normativity |journal=Australasian Philosophical Review |date=nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kiesewetter |first1=Benjamin |title=Rationality as Reasons-Responsiveness |journal=Australasian Philosophical Review |year=2020 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=332–342 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/KIERAR-2 |doi=10.1080/24740500.2021.1964239 |s2cid=243349119 |doi-access=free |access-date=2021-06-07 |archive-date=2021-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605114434/https://philpapers.org/rec/KIERAR-2 |url-status=live }}</ref>
But there are also thought experiments in favor of the normativity of rationality. One, due to [[Frank Cameron Jackson|Frank Jackson]], involves a doctor who receives a patient with a mild condition and has to prescribe one out of three drugs: drug A resulting in a partial cure, drug B resulting in a complete cure, or drug C resulting in the patient's death.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Frank |title=Decision-Theoretic Consequentialism and the Nearest and Dearest Objection |journal=Ethics |date=1991 |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=461–482 |doi=10.1086/293312 |s2cid=170544860 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/JACDCA |access-date=2021-06-07 |archive-date=2021-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607055018/https://philpapers.org/rec/JACDCA |url-status=live }}</ref> The doctor's problem is that they cannot tell which of the drugs B and C results in a complete cure and which one in the patient's death. The objectively best case would be for the patient to get drug B, but it would be highly irresponsible for the doctor to prescribe it given the uncertainty about its effects. So the doctor ought to prescribe the less effective drug A, which is also the rational choice. This thought experiment indicates that rationality and normativity coincide since what is rational and what one ought to do depends on the agent's mind after all.<ref name="Littlejohn"/><ref name="Salas"/>
Some theorists have responded to these [[thought experiment]]s by distinguishing between normativity and [[Moral responsibility|responsibility]].<ref name="Salas"/> On this view, critique of irrational behavior, like the doctor prescribing drug B, involves a negative evaluation of the agent in terms of responsibility but remains silent on normative issues. On a competence-based account, which defines rationality in terms of the competence of responding to reasons, such behavior can be understood as a failure to execute one's competence. But sometimes we are lucky and we succeed in the normative dimension despite failing to perform competently, i.e. rationally, due to being irresponsible.<ref name="Salas"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Michael J. |title=Taking Luck Seriously |journal=Journal of Philosophy |date=2002 |volume=99 |issue=11 |pages=553–576 |doi=10.2307/3655750 |jstor=3655750 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/ZIMTLS |access-date=2021-06-07 |archive-date=2021-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607055016/https://philpapers.org/rec/ZIMTLS |url-status=live }}</ref> The opposite can also be the case: bad luck may result in failure despite a responsible, competent performance. This explains how rationality and normativity can come apart despite our practice of criticizing irrationality.<ref name="Salas"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sylvan |first1=Kurt L. |title=Respect and the Reality of Apparent Reasons |journal=Philosophical Studies |date=2020 |volume=178 |issue=10 |pages=3129–3156 |doi=10.1007/s11098-020-01573-1 |s2cid=225137550 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/SYLRAT |doi-access=free |access-date=2021-06-07 |archive-date=2021-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607055019/https://philpapers.org/rec/SYLRAT |url-status=live }}</ref>
==== Normative and descriptive theories ====
The concept of normativity can also be used to distinguish different theories of rationality. Normative theories explore the normative nature of rationality. They are concerned with rules and ideals that govern how the [[mind]] should work. Descriptive theories, on the other hand, investigate how the mind actually works. This includes issues like under which circumstances the ideal rules are followed as well as studying the underlying psychological processes responsible for rational thought. Descriptive theories are often investigated in empirical [[psychology]] while [[philosophy]] tends to focus more on normative issues. This division also reflects how different these two types are investigated.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Sturm2021"/><ref name="Pinker2022"/><ref name="Over2004"/>
Descriptive and normative theorists usually employ different [[methodologies]] in their research. Descriptive issues are studied by [[empirical research]]. This can take the form of studies that present their participants with a cognitive problem. It is then observed how the participants solve the problem, possibly together with explanations of why they arrived at a specific solution. Normative issues, on the other hand, are usually investigated in similar ways to how the [[formal sciences]] conduct their inquiry.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Sturm2021"/> In the field of theoretical rationality, for example, it is accepted that [[deductive reasoning]] in the form of [[modus ponens]] leads to rational beliefs. This claim can be investigated using methods like [[rational intuition]] or careful deliberation toward a [[reflective equilibrium]]. These forms of investigation can arrive at conclusions about what forms of thought are rational and irrational without depending on [[empirical evidence]].<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pust |first1=Joel |title=Intuitions |date=2014 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/5802/chapter-abstract/148988403?redirectedFrom=fulltext |chapter=3 Empirical Evidence for Rationalism? |access-date=2022-08-18 |archive-date=2022-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818111248/https://academic.oup.com/book/5802/chapter-abstract/148988403?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Daniels |first1=Norman |title=Reflective Equilibrium |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reflective-equilibrium/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=28 February 2022 |date=2020 |archive-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222215102/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reflective-equilibrium/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
An important question in this field concerns the relation between descriptive and normative approaches to rationality.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Pinker2022"/><ref name="Over2004"/> One difficulty in this regard is that there is in many cases a huge gap between what the norms of ideal rationality prescribe and how people actually reason. Examples of normative systems of rationality are [[classical logic]], [[probability theory]], and [[decision theory]]. Actual reasoners often diverge from these standards because of [[cognitive biases]], heuristics, or other mental limitations.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
Traditionally, it was often assumed that actual human reasoning should follow the rules described in normative theories. On this view, any discrepancy is a form of irrationality that should be avoided. However, this usually ignores the human limitations of the mind. Given these limitations, various discrepancies may be necessary (and in this sense ''rational'') to get the most useful results.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Harman2013"/><ref name="Moser2006"/> For example, the ideal rational norms of decision theory demand that the agent should always choose the option with the highest expected value. However, calculating the expected value of each option may take a very long time in complex situations and may not be worth the trouble. This is reflected in the fact that actual reasoners often settle for an option that is good enough without making certain that it is really the best option available.<ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Bendor2009"/> A further difficulty in this regard is [[Hume's law]], which states that one cannot deduce what ought to be based on what is.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cohon |first1=Rachel |title=Hume's Moral Philosophy: 5. Is and ought |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-moral/#io |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=21 May 2021 |date=2018 |archive-date=10 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110170335/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-moral/#io |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bloomfield |first1=P. |title=Two Dogmas of Metaethics |journal=Philosophical Studies |date=2007 |volume=132 |issue=3 |pages=439–466 |doi=10.1007/s11098-005-2509-9 |s2cid=170556071 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BLOTDO |access-date=2022-08-18 |archive-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814062403/https://philpapers.org/rec/BLOTDO |url-status=live }}</ref> So just because a certain heuristic or cognitive bias is present in a specific case, it should not be inferred that it should be present. One approach to these problems is to hold that descriptive and normative theories talk about different types of rationality. This way, there is no contradiction between the two and both can be correct in their own field. Similar problems are discussed in so-called [[naturalized epistemology]].<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rysiew |first1=Patrick |title=Naturalism in Epistemology |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology-naturalized/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=10 August 2022 |date=2021 |archive-date=17 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817114504/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology-naturalized/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Conservatism and foundationalism ===
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The second factor pertains to the norms and procedures of rationality that govern how agents should form beliefs based on this evidence. These norms include the [[rules of inference]] discussed in regular [[logic]] as well as other norms of coherence between mental states.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Audi2004"/> In the case of rules of inference, the premises of a [[Validity (logic)|valid]] argument offer support to the conclusion and make therefore the belief in the conclusion rational.<ref name="Kolb2008"/> The support offered by the premises can either be [[Deductive reasoning|deductive]] or [[Defeasible reasoning|non-deductive]].<ref name="Hintikka2006"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Backmann |first1=Marius |title=Varieties of Justification—How (Not) to Solve the Problem of Induction |journal=Acta Analytica |date=1 June 2019 |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=235–255 |doi=10.1007/s12136-018-0371-6 |s2cid=125767384 |language=en |issn=1874-6349|doi-access=free }}</ref> In both cases, believing in the premises of an argument makes it rational to also believe in its conclusion. The difference between the two is given by how the premises support the conclusion. For deductive reasoning, the premises offer the strongest possible support: it is impossible for the conclusion to be false if the premises are true. The premises of non-deductive arguments also offer support for their conclusion. But this support is not absolute: the truth of the premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion. Instead, the premises make it more likely that the conclusion is true. In this case, it is usually demanded that the non-deductive support is sufficiently strong if the belief in the conclusion is to be rational.<ref name="Knauff2021a"/><ref name="Kolb2008"/><ref name="Hintikka2006"/>
An important form of theoretical irrationality is motivationally biased belief, sometimes referred to as [[wishful thinking]]. In this case, beliefs are formed based on one's desires or what is pleasing to imagine without proper evidential support.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Mele2004b"/> Faulty reasoning in the form of [[Formal fallacy|formal]] and [[informal fallacies]] is another cause of theoretical irrationality.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dowden |first1=Bradley |title=Fallacies |url=https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=19 March 2021 |archive-date=29 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429214410/https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==== Practical ====
All forms of practical rationality are concerned with how we act. It pertains both to [[Action (philosophy)|actions]] directly as well as to mental states and events preceding actions, like [[intention]]s and [[Choice|decisions]]. There are various aspects of practical rationality, such as how to pick a goal to follow and how to choose the means for reaching this goal. Other issues include the coherence between different intentions as well as between beliefs and intentions.<ref name="Hampton1996"/><ref name="Wallace2020"/><ref name="Moser2006"/>
Some theorists define the rationality of actions in terms of beliefs and desires. On this view, an action to bring about a certain goal is rational if the agent has the desire to bring about this goal and the belief that their action will realize it. A stronger version of this view requires that the responsible beliefs and desires are rational themselves.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/> A very influential conception of the rationality of decisions comes from [[decision theory]]. In decisions, the agent is presented with a set of possible courses of action and has to choose one among them. Decision theory holds that the agent should choose the alternative that has the highest [[expected value]].<ref name="Hampton1996"/> Practical rationality includes the field of actions but not of behavior in general. The difference between the two is that actions are intentional behavior, i.e. they are performed for a purpose and guided by it. In this regard, intentional behavior like driving a car is either rational or irrational while non-intentional behavior like sneezing is outside the domain of rationality.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Wilson2002"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mele |first1=Alfred R. |last2=Moser |first2=Paul K. |title=Intentional Action |journal=Noûs |date=1994 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=39–68 |doi=10.2307/2215919 |jstor=2215919 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2215919 |issn=0029-4624 |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814154359/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2215919 |url-status=live }}</ref>
For various other practical phenomena, there is no clear consensus on whether they belong to this domain or not. For example, concerning the rationality of desires, two important theories are proceduralism and substantivism. According to proceduralism, there is an important distinction between [[Desire#Intrinsic and instrumental|instrumental and noninstrumental desires]]. A desire is instrumental if its fulfillment serves as a means to the fulfillment of another desire.<ref name="Brad2004"/><ref name="Harman2013"/><ref name="Knauff2021b"/> For example, Jack is sick and wants to take medicine to get healthy again. In this case, the desire to take the medicine is instrumental since it only serves as a means to Jack's noninstrumental desire to get healthy. Both proceduralism and substantivism usually agree that a person can be irrational if they lack an instrumental desire despite having the corresponding noninstrumental desire and being aware that it acts as a means. Proceduralists hold that this is the only way a desire can be irrational. Substantivists, on the other hand, allow that noninstrumental desires may also be irrational. In this regard, a substantivist could claim that it would be irrational for Jack to lack his noninstrumental desire to be healthy.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Brad2004"/><ref name="Knauff2021b"/> Similar debates focus on the rationality of [[emotion]]s.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
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Theoretical and practical rationality are often discussed separately and there are many differences between them. In some cases, they even conflict with each other. However, there are also various ways in which they overlap and depend on each other.<ref name="Hampton1996"/><ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
It is sometimes claimed that theoretical rationality aims at truth while practical rationality aims at [[The good|goodness]].<ref name="Hampton1996"/> According to [[John Searle]], the difference can be expressed in terms of "[[direction of fit]]".<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Douglass |first1=Curran F. |title=Rationality in Action. By John Searle. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001. 303 pages, ISBN 0-262-19463-5. Hardback $35.00. |journal=Auslegung: A Journal of Philosophy |date=1 June 2003 |doi=10.17161/AJP.1808.9520|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kissine |first1=Mikhail |title=Direction of Fit |journal=Logique et Analyse |date=2007 |volume=50 |issue=198 |pages=113–128 |jstor=44084854 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44084854 |issn=0024-5836 |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814154017/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44084854 |url-status=live }}</ref> On this view, theoretical rationality is about how the mind corresponds to the world by representing it. Practical rationality, on the other hand, is about how the world corresponds to the ideal set up by the mind and how it should be changed.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Harman2004"/><ref name="Moser2006"/> Another difference is that arbitrary choices are sometimes needed for practical rationality. For example, there may be two equally good routes available to reach a goal. On the practical level, one has to choose one of them if one wants to reach the goal. It would even be practically irrational to resist this arbitrary choice, as exemplified by [[Buridan's ass]].<ref name="Harman2013"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chislenko |first1=Eugene |title=A Solution for Buridan's Ass |journal=Ethics |date=2016 |volume=126 |issue=2 |pages=283–310 |doi=10.1086/683537 |s2cid=147175535 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/CHIASF-2 |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814154359/https://philpapers.org/rec/CHIASF-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> But on the theoretical level, one does not have to form a belief about which route was taken upon hearing that someone reached the goal. In this case, the arbitrary choice for one belief rather than the other would be theoretically irrational. Instead, the agent should suspend their belief either way if they lack sufficient reasons. Another difference is that practical rationality is guided by specific goals and desires, in contrast to theoretical rationality. So it is practically rational to take medicine if one has the desire to cure a sickness. But it is theoretically irrational to adopt the belief that one is healthy just because one desires this. This is a form of [[wishful thinking]].<ref name="Harman2013"/>
In some cases, the demands of practical and theoretical rationality conflict with each other. For example, the practical reason of [[loyalty]] to one's child may demand the belief that they are innocent while the evidence linking them to the crime may demand a belief in their guilt on the theoretical level.<ref name="Harman2013"/><ref name="Harman2004"/>
But the two domains also overlap in certain ways. For example, the norm of rationality known as [[enkrateia|enkrasia]] links beliefs and intentions. It states that "[r]ationality requires of you that you intend to F if you believe your reasons require you to F". Failing to fulfill this requirement results in cases of irrationality known as [[akrasia]] or [[weakness of the will]].<ref name="Broome2021"/><ref name="Moser2006"/><ref name="Heinzelmann2022"/><ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Mele2004b"/> Another form of overlap is that the study of the rules governing practical rationality is a theoretical matter.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Dreier2004"/> And practical considerations may determine whether to pursue theoretical rationality on a certain issue as well as how much time and resources to invest in the inquiry.<ref name="Harman2004"/><ref name="Mele2004b"/> It is often held that practical rationality presupposes theoretical rationality. This is based on the idea that to decide what should be done, one needs to know what is the case. But one can assess what is the case independently of knowing what should be done. So in this regard, one can study theoretical rationality as a distinct discipline independent of practical rationality but not the other way round.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/> However, this independence is rejected by some forms of doxastic voluntarism. They hold that theoretical rationality can be understood as one type of practical rationality. This is based on the controversial claim that we can decide what to believe. It can take the form of ''epistemic decision theory'', which states that people try to fulfill epistemic aims when deciding what to believe.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Greaves |first1=Hilary |title=Epistemic Decision Theory |journal=Mind |date=2013 |volume=122 |issue=488 |pages=915–952 |doi=10.1093/mind/fzt090 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/GREEDT |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814154400/https://philpapers.org/rec/GREEDT |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Konek |first1=Jason |last2=Levinstein |first2=Ben |title=The Foundations of Epistemic Decision Theory |date=2017 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/KONTFO-2 |access-date=2022-08-14 |archive-date=2022-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814154400/https://philpapers.org/rec/KONTFO-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> A similar idea is defended by [[Jesús Mosterín]]. He argues that the proper object of rationality is not ''belief'' but ''acceptance''. He understands acceptance as a voluntary and context-dependent decision to affirm a proposition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mosterín |first1=Jesús |title=Acceptance without belief |journal=Manuscrito |date=2002 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=313–335 |url=https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/manuscrito/article/view/8644540 |access-date=2019-07-13 |archive-date=2019-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713172627/https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/manuscrito/article/view/8644540 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Ideal and bounded ===
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=== Individual and social ===
Most discussions and research in the academic literature focus on individual rationality. This concerns the rationality of individual persons, for example, whether their beliefs and actions are rational. But the question of rationality can also be applied to groups as a whole on the social level. This form of social or collective rationality concerns both theoretical and practical issues like group beliefs and group decisions.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Horodecka2021"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Townley |first1=Barbara |title=Reason's Neglect: Rationality and Organizing |date=24 July 2008 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6224/chapter-abstract/149856255?redirectedFrom=fulltext |language=en |chapter=Collective rationality |access-date=18 August 2022 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818103334/https://academic.oup.com/book/6224/chapter-abstract/149856255?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref> And just like in the individual case, it is possible to study these phenomena as well as the processes and structures that are responsible for them. On the social level, there are various forms of cooperation to reach a shared goal. In the theoretical cases, a group of jurors may first discuss and then vote to determine whether the defendant is guilty. Or in the practical case, politicians may cooperate to implement new regulations to combat [[climate change]]. These forms of cooperation can be judged on their social rationality depending on how they are implemented and on the quality of the results they bear. Some theorists try to reduce social rationality to individual rationality by holding that the group processes are rational to the extent that the individuals participating in them are rational. But such a reduction is frequently rejected.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Horodecka2021"/>
Various studies indicate that group rationality often outperforms individual rationality. For example, groups of people working together on the [[Wason selection task]] usually perform better than individuals by themselves. This form of group superiority is sometimes termed "wisdom of crowds" and may be explained based on the claim that competent individuals have a stronger impact on the group decision than others.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Primicerio |first1=Kevin |last2=Challet |first2=Damien |last3=Gualdi |first3=Stanislao |title=Collective rationality and functional wisdom of the crowd in far-from-rational institutional investors |journal=Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination |date=1 January 2021 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=153–171 |doi=10.1007/s11403-020-00288-0 |s2cid=225536288 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11403-020-00288-0 |language=en |issn=1860-7128 |access-date=18 August 2022 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818103340/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11403-020-00288-0 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this is not always the case and sometimes groups perform worse due to conformity or unwillingness to bring up controversial issues.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
=== Others ===
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== Paradoxes of rationality ==
The term ''paradox of rationality'' has a variety of meanings. It is often used for puzzles or unsolved problems of rationality. Some are just situations where it is not clear what the rational person should do. Others involve apparent faults within rationality itself, for example, where rationality seems to recommend a suboptimal course of action.<ref name="Mele2004a"/> A special case are so-called rational dilemmas, in which it is impossible to be rational since two norms of rationality conflict with each other.<ref name="Mintoff1997"/><ref name="Priest2002"/> Examples of paradoxes of rationality include [[Pascal's Wager]], the [[Prisoner's dilemma]], [[Buridan's ass]], and the [[St. Petersburg paradox]].<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sorensen |first1=Roy |editor-first1=Alfred R |editor-first2=Piers |editor-last1=Mele |editor-last2=Rawling |title=The Oxford Handbook of Rationality |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514539-7 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195145399.001.0001/acprof-9780195145397-chapter-14 |chapter=PARADOXES OF RATIONALITY |doi=10.1093/0195145399.001.0001 |access-date=2022-08-18 |archive-date=2023-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142129/https://academic.oup.com/oxford-scholarship-online |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Moriarty2020"/>
==History==
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===Max Weber===
[[File:MaxWeber1919FotoLeifGeiges.jpg|thumb|right|[[Germany|German]] scholar [[Max Weber]] notably articulated a theory of rationality that divided human capacity to think through things in four ways.<ref name=kalberg>{{cite journal
The German scholar [[Max Weber]] proposed an interpretation of [[Social actions|social action]] that distinguished between four different [[ideal type|idealized types]] of rationality.<ref name=kalberg/>
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===Robert Audi===
[[Robert Audi]] developed a comprehensive account of rationality that covers both the theoretical and the practical side of rationality.<ref name="Precis">{{cite journal |last1=Audi |first1=Robert |title=Précis of the Architecture of Reason |journal=Philosophy and Phenomenological Research |date=2003 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=177–180 |doi=10.1111/j.1933-1592.2003.tb00031.x |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDPOT |access-date=2020-11-07 |archive-date=2021-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414132814/https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDPOT |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Architecture">{{cite book |last1=Audi |first1=Robert |title=The Architecture of Reason: The Structure and Substance of Rationality |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDTAO-3 |access-date=2020-11-07 |archive-date=2021-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619215025/https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDTAO-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> This account centers on the notion of a ''ground'': a [[mental state]] is rational if it is "well-grounded" in a source of [[Justification (epistemology)|justification]].<ref name="Architecture" />{{rp|19}} Irrational mental states, on the other hand, lack a sufficient ground. For example, the perceptual experience of a tree when looking outside the window can ground the rationality of the belief that there is a tree outside.
Audi is committed to a form of [[foundationalism]]: the idea that justified beliefs, or in his case, rational states in general, can be divided into two groups: the ''foundation'' and the ''superstructure''.<ref name="Architecture" />{{rp|13,29–31}} The mental states in the superstructure receive their justification from other rational mental states while the foundational mental states receive their justification from a more basic source.<ref name="Architecture" />{{rp|16–18}} For example, the above-mentioned belief that there is a tree outside is foundational since it is based on a basic source: perception. Knowing that trees grow in soil, we may deduce that there is soil outside. This belief is equally rational, being supported by an adequate ground, but it belongs to the superstructure since its rationality is grounded in the rationality of another belief. Desires, like beliefs, form a hierarchy: intrinsic desires are at the foundation while instrumental desires belong to the superstructure. In order to link the instrumental desire to the intrinsic desire an extra element is needed: a belief that the fulfillment of the instrumental desire is a means to the fulfillment of the intrinsic desire.<ref name="Haji">{{cite journal |last1=Haji |first1=Ish |title=Review of The Architecture of Reason: The Structure and Substance of Rationality |url=https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/the-architecture-of-reason-the-structure-and-substance-of-rationality/ |website=Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews |date=9 March 2002 |access-date=7 November 2020 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023025553/https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/the-architecture-of-reason-the-structure-and-substance-of-rationality/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Audi asserts that all the basic sources providing justification for the foundational mental states come from [[experience]]. As for ''beliefs'', there are four types of experience that act as sources: perception, memory, introspection, and rational intuition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Audi |first1=Robert |title=The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=71–94 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDTSO-3 |chapter=The Sources of Knowledge |year=2002 |access-date=2020-11-07 |archive-date=2022-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612112116/https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDTSO-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> The main basic source of the rationality of ''desires'', on the other hand, comes in the form of hedonic experience: the experience of pleasure and pain.<ref name="Commitment">{{cite book |last1=Audi |first1=Robert |title=Rationality and Religious Commitment |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDRAR-2 |access-date=2020-11-07 |archive-date=2020-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113084347/https://philpapers.org/rec/AUDRAR-2 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|20}} So, for example, a desire to eat ice-cream is rational if it is based on experiences in which the agent enjoyed the taste of ice-cream, and irrational if it lacks such a support. Because of its dependence on experience, rationality can be defined as a kind of responsiveness to experience.<ref name="Commitment"/>{{rp|21}}
''Actions'', in contrast to beliefs and desires, do not have a source of justification of their own. Their rationality is grounded in the rationality of other states instead: in the rationality of beliefs and desires. Desires motivate actions. Beliefs are needed here, as in the case of instrumental desires, to bridge a gap and link two elements.<ref name="Architecture" />{{rp|62}} Audi distinguishes the ''focal'' rationality of individual mental states from the ''global'' rationality of ''persons''. Global rationality has a derivative status: it depends on the focal rationality.<ref name="Precis" /> Or more precisely: "Global rationality is reached when a person has a sufficiently integrated system of sufficiently well-grounded propositional attitudes, emotions, and actions".<ref name="Architecture" />{{rp|232}} Rationality is ''relative'' in the sense that it depends on the experience of the person in question. Since different people undergo different experiences, what is rational to believe for one person may be irrational to believe for another person.<ref name="Precis"/> That a belief is rational does not entail that it is ''true''.<ref name="Haji"/>
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===Psychology===
Many psychological theories have been proposed to describe how reasoning happens and what underlying psychological processes are responsible. One of their goals is to explain how the different types of irrationality happen and why some types are more prevalent than others. They include ''mental logic theories'', ''mental model theories'', and ''[[Dual process theory|dual process theories]]''.<ref name="Knauff2021a"/><ref name="Schechter2013"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson-Laird |first1=Phil |title=Deductive reasoning |journal=WIREs Cognitive Science |date=30 December 2009 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=8–17 |doi=10.1002/wcs.20 |pmid=26272833 |url=https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wcs.20 |issn=1939-5078 |access-date=19 August 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124120447/https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wcs.20 |url-status=live }}</ref> An important psychological area of study focuses on [[cognitive biases]]. Cognitive biases are systematic tendencies to engage in erroneous or irrational forms of [[thinking]], [[judging]], and acting. Examples include the [[confirmation bias]], the [[self-serving bias]], the [[hindsight bias]], and the [[Dunning–Kruger effect]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Litvak |first1=P. |last2=Lerner |first2=J. S. |title=The Oxford Companion to Emotion and the Affective Sciences |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/LITCB |chapter=Cognitive Bias |access-date=20 December 2021 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102021835/https://philpapers.org/rec/LITCB |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dunning-Kruger effect |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=7 December 2021 |language=en |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130065643/https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gignac |first1=Gilles E. |last2=Zajenkowski |first2=Marcin |title=The Dunning-Kruger effect is (mostly) a statistical artefact: Valid approaches to testing the hypothesis with individual differences data |journal=Intelligence |date=1 May 2020 |volume=80 |pages=101449 |doi=10.1016/j.intell.2020.101449 |s2cid=216410901 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2020.101449 |language=en |issn=0160-2896 |access-date=20 December 2021 |archive-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515000616/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289620300271?via%3Dihub |url-status=live }}</ref> Some empirical findings suggest that metacognition is an important aspect of rationality. The idea behind this claim is that reasoning is carried out more efficiently and reliably if the responsible thought processes are properly controlled and monitored.<ref name="Knauff2021a"/>
The [[Wason selection task]] is an influential test for studying rationality and reasoning abilities. In it, four cards are placed before the participants. Each has a number on one side and a letter on the opposite side. In one case, the visible sides of the four cards are A, D, 4, and 7. The participant is then asked which cards need to be turned around in order to verify the conditional claim "if there is a vowel on one side of the card, then there is an even number on the other side of the card". The correct answer is A and 7. But this answer is only given by about 10%. Many choose card 4 instead even though there is no requirement on what letters may appear on its opposite side.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Schechter2013"/><ref name="Evans2005"/> An important insight from using these and similar tests is that the rational ability of the participants is usually significantly better for concrete and realistic cases than for abstract or implausible cases.<ref name="Schechter2013"/><ref name="Evans2005"/> Various contemporary studies in this field use [[Bayesian probability theory]] to study subjective degrees of belief, for example, how the believer's certainty in the premises is carried over to the conclusion through reasoning.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
In the [[psychology of reasoning]], psychologists and [[Cognitive science|cognitive scientists]] have defended different positions on human rationality. One prominent view, due to [[Philip Johnson-Laird]] and [[Ruth M. J. Byrne]] among others is that humans are rational in principle but they err in practice, that is, humans have the competence to be rational but their performance is limited by various factors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson-Laird |first1=Philip N. |last2=Byrne |first2=Ruth M. J. |title=Corrigendum: 'If' and the problems of conditional reasoning |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |date=1 September 2009 |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=282–287 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.003 |s2cid=54389097 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, it has been argued that many standard tests of reasoning, such as those on the [[conjunction fallacy]], on the [[Wason selection task]], or the [[base rate fallacy]] suffer from methodological and conceptual problems. This has led to disputes in psychology over whether researchers should (only) use standard rules of logic, probability theory and statistics, or rational choice theory as norms of good reasoning. Opponents of this view, such as [[Gerd Gigerenzer]], favor a conception of [[bounded rationality]], especially for tasks under high uncertainty.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sturm |first1=Thomas |title=The 'Rationality Wars' in Psychology: Where They Are and Where They Could Go |journal=Inquiry |date=February 2012 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=66–81 |doi=10.1080/0020174X.2012.643628 |s2cid=144877200 }}</ref> The concept of rationality continues to be debated by psychologists, economists and cognitive scientists.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chater|first1=Nick|last2=Felin|first2=Teppo|last3=Funder|first3=David C.|last4=Gigerenzer|first4=Gerd|last5=Koenderink|first5=Jan J.|last6=Krueger|first6=Joachim I.|last7=Noble|first7=Denis|last8=Nordli|first8=Samuel A.|last9=Oaksford|first9=Mike|last10=Schwartz|first10=Barry|last11=Stanovich|first11=Keith E.|date=2018-04-01|title=Mind, rationality, and cognition: An interdisciplinary debate|url=https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1333-5|journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review|language=en|volume=25|issue=2|pages=793–826|doi=10.3758/s13423-017-1333-5|issn=1531-5320|pmc=5902517|pmid=28744767|access-date=2021-12-18|archive-date=2023-12-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142156/https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-017-1333-5|url-status=live}}</ref>
The psychologist [[Jean Piaget]] gave an influential account of how the stages in human development from childhood to adulthood can be understood in terms of the increase of rational and logical abilities.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Philosophy of logic |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-logic |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=21 November 2021 |language=en |archive-date=28 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428101732/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/346240/philosophy-of-logic |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Inhelder |first1=Bärbel |last2=Piaget |first2=Jean |title=The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence: An Essay on the Construction of Formal Operational Structures |date=1958 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-21002-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39cdDv2-PZkC |language=en |chapter=Part I: The development of propositional logic |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=2023-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142129/https://books.google.com/books?id=39cdDv2-PZkC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parsons |first1=Charles |title=Inhelder and Piaget's the Growth of Logical Thinking† |journal=British Journal of Psychology |date=1960 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=75–84 |doi=10.1111/j.2044-8295.1960.tb00727.x |pmid=14430621 |url=https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1960.tb00727.x |language=en |issn=2044-8295 |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=2021-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207184951/https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1960.tb00727.x |url-status=live }}</ref> He identifies four stages associated with rough age groups: the sensorimotor stage below the age of two, the preoperational state until the age of seven, the concrete operational stage until the age of eleven, and the formal operational stage afterward. Rational or logical reasoning only takes place in the last stage and is related to abstract [[thinking]], [[concept formation]], reasoning, planning, and [[problem-solving]].<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
====Emotions====
According to A. C. Grayling, rationality "must be independent of emotions, personal feelings or any kind of instincts".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Dr Binoy |title=Urban and Rural Sociology |date=22 January 2022 |publisher=K.K. Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jn9aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |language=en |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142126/https://books.google.com/books?id=jn9aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Certain findings{{Which|date=August 2022}} in [[cognitive science]] and [[neuroscience]] show that no human has ever satisfied this criterion, except perhaps a person with no affective feelings, for example, an individual with a massively damaged [[amygdala]] or severe psychopathy. Thus, such an idealized form of rationality is best exemplified by computers, and not people. However, scholars may productively appeal to the idealization as a point of reference. {{Citation needed|date=August 2012}} In his book, ''The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World,'' British philosopher [[Julian Baggini]] sets out to debunk myths about reason (e.g., that it is "purely objective and requires no subjective judgment").<ref name="Radford and Frazier (2017)">{{cite journal |author1=[[Benjamin Radford|Radford, Benjamin]] |author2=[[Kendrick Frazier|Frazier, Kendrick]] |title=The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=January 2017 |volume=41 |issue=1 |page=60}}</ref>
=== Cognitive and behavioral sciences ===
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=== Game theory ===
[[Game theory]] is closely related to decision theory and the problem of rational choice.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Knauff2021a"/> Rational choice is based on the idea that rational agents perform a [[cost-benefit analysis]] of all available options and choose the option that is most beneficial from their point of view. In the case of game theory, several agents are involved. This further complicates the situation since whether a given option is the best choice for one agent may depend on choices made by other agents. Game theory can be used to analyze various situations, like playing chess, firms competing for business, or animals fighting over prey. Rationality is a core assumption of game theory: it is assumed that each player chooses rationally based on what is most beneficial from their point of view. This way, the agent may be able to anticipate how others choose and what their best choice is relative to the behavior of the others.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Bicchieri2004"/><ref name="Ross2021"/><ref>{{cite web |title=game theory |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/game-theory |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en |archive-date=26 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726124646/https://www.britannica.com/science/game-theory |url-status=live }}</ref> This often results in a [[Nash equilibrium]], which constitutes a set of strategies, one for each player, where no player can improve their outcome by unilaterally changing their strategy.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Bicchieri2004"/><ref name="Ross2021"/>
=== Bayesianism ===
A popular contemporary approach to rationality is based on [[Bayesian epistemology]].<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Joyce2004"/> Bayesian epistemology sees belief as a continuous phenomenon that comes in degrees. For example, Daniel is relatively sure that the [[Boston Celtics]] will win their next match and absolutely certain that two plus two equals four. In this case, the degree of the first belief is weaker than the degree of the second belief. These degrees are usually referred to as ''credences'' and represented by numbers between 0 and 1. 0 corresponds to full disbelief, 1 corresponds to full belief and 0.5 corresponds to suspension of belief. Bayesians understand this in terms of [[probability]]: the higher the credence, the higher the [[subjective probability]] that the believed [[proposition]] is true. As probabilities, they are subject to the laws of [[probability theory]]. These laws act as norms of rationality: beliefs are rational if they comply with them and irrational if they violate them.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hájek |first1=Alan |title=Interpretations of Probability: 3.3 The Subjective Interpretation |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/probability-interpret/#SubPro |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=6 March 2021 |date=2019 |archive-date=17 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217013520/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/probability-interpret/#SubPro |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Olsson |first1=Erik J. |title=Introduction to Formal Philosophy |date=2018 |publisher=Springer |pages=431–442 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/OLSBE |chapter=Bayesian Epistemology |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=2021-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516095057/https://philpapers.org/rec/OLSBE |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hartmann |first1=Stephan |last2=Sprenger |first2=Jan |title=The Routledge Companion to Epistemology |date=2010 |publisher=London: Routledge |pages=609–620 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BOVSIO |chapter=Bayesian Epistemology |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=2021-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516095047/https://philpapers.org/rec/BOVSIO |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, it would be irrational to have a credence of 0.9 that it will rain tomorrow together with another credence of 0.9 that it will not rain tomorrow. This account of rationality can also be extended to the practical domain by requiring that agents maximize their subjective expected utility. This way, Bayesianism can provide a unified account of both theoretical and practical rationality.<ref name="Mele2004a"/><ref name="Joyce2004"/><ref name="Knauff2021b"/>
===Economics===
Rationality plays a key role in economics and there are several strands to this.<ref>{{cite book|title=Foundations of Rational Choice Under Risk|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Paul Anand|year=1993|isbn=0198233035}}{{page needed|date=July 2019}}</ref> Firstly, there is the concept of instrumentality—basically the idea that people and organisations are instrumentally rational—that is, adopt the best actions to achieve their goals. Secondly, there is an axiomatic concept that rationality is a matter of being logically consistent within your preferences and beliefs. Thirdly, people have focused on the accuracy of beliefs and full use of information—in this view, a person who is not rational has beliefs that do not fully use the information they have.
Debates within economic sociology also arise as to whether or not people or organizations are "really" rational, as well as whether it makes sense to model them as such in formal models. Some have argued that a kind of [[bounded rationality]] makes more sense for such models.
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151031091523/http://ruccs.rutgers.edu/ArchiveFolder/Research%20Group/Publications/Reason/ReasonRationality.htm Reason and Rationality], by Richard Samuels, Stephen Stich, Luc Faucher on the broad field of reason and rationality from descriptive, normative, and evaluative points of view
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationality-historicist/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Historicist Theories of Rationality]
* [http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/leglreas.htm Legal Reasoning After Post-Modern Critiques of Reason] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221145826/http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/leglreas.htm |date=2012-12-21 }}, by Peter Suber
*{{cite journal |last1=Spohn |first1=Wolfgang |title=The Many Facets of the Theory of Rationality |journal=Croatian Journal of Philosophy |date=2002 |volume=II |issue=6 |pages=249–264 |citeseerx=10.1.1.1019.3269 }}
* [[Lucy Suchman]] (2007). Human-machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Action. Cambridge University Press.
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