Mara Rinn
Cosmic Goo Convertor
Cosmic Consortium
2061
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Posted - 2012.11.14 11:32:00 -
[1] - Quote
Remiel Pollard wrote:ISD TYPE40 wrote:To assume that rationality is objective, and not subjective would be to assume that everyone shares an equal sense of reason. History shows that this is not the case, where some groups of people may have a shared sense of reason within their own boundaries, that particular definition may not be equal to that of another group of people. As for rationality - I've always equated it with reason and logic. I don't believe that anything can be justified as rational without there being 1) a reason, and 2) a logical series of events that lead to the final decision. Otherwise, a word like "irrational" wouldn't exist - logically speaking.
Reason and logic are not the same thing. Logic is a system for formal thinking. Reason is a system of applying rules to thinking, some of which include logic, heuristics or rules of thumb. Not all rational decisions are logical, and not all logical decisions are rational.
Rational thinking will include influences such as politics: for example it is perfectly logical that given the situation of the world's food supply being more than enough to feed the entire population of the world, that it should be possible to feed everyone. However it is irrational to attempt to feed everyone in the world since the food supply is distributed unevenly, and the process of distribution of food would involve starting wars, stopping wars, countering racial hatred, and basically solving the ages old problem of world peace.
Even your attempt at an objective definition of rational is subjective. What counts as a reason for killing someone? In some jurisdictions, it's perfectly reasonable to execute a woman who looked at a man who was not her husband: logically, the law was broken, the law prescribes a certain punishment, thus the punishment must be dealt. In other jurisdictions it is not reasonable to kill anyone, even if your own life was at risk (though during the sentencing the Judge might give you a lenient sentence since you were acting in self defence).
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