What Does It Mean to Be Rational?

Abstract

The article provides a critical overview on the question of what does it means to be rational and what are the foundations of reasonable thinking, as well as how it is related to the history and current state of affairs in science and philosophy. Ra­tionality is understood as the correspondence of actions and thinking to epis­temic rules. Traditionally, the rules of correct thinking are formulated by logic. The search for other universal laws of knowledge originates from the logic of Aristotle. In the epistemology and logic of science, pluralism still prevails, and parallel conceptual lines are developing. The ideals of rationality either de­scribe thinking algorithms that are successfully implemented in research, or they are prescribed to practice like philosophical ideals. The matter is complicated by the fact that there are no ahistorical ideals of knowledge. Does it mean that the search for ideals of rationality is doomed in advance, and rationality itself is irrational? Both the foundations of scientific knowledge and the foundations of human culture are interconnected with rationality. Moreover, one is insepara­ble from the other in the real world, in which a person acts and makes decisions. Considering different points of view on rationality, we will try to comprehend it simultaneously from the standpoint of historical variability and the presence of mechanisms for continuity and stabilization of acquired cultural experience.