Editing Rationality (section)

== 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|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rational|title=Definition of rational |website=Merriam-Webster  |access-date=24 September 2017|archive-date=17 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817055716/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rational|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, a person who acts rationally has good reasons for what they do. This usually implies that they reflected on the possible consequences of their action and the goal it is supposed to realize. In the case of [[belief]]s, it is rational to believe something if the agent has good [[evidence]] for it and it is coherent with the agent's other beliefs.<ref name="Audi2004"/><ref name="Lord2018-1"/> While [[Action (philosophy)|actions]] and beliefs are the most paradigmatic forms of rationality, the term is used both in ordinary language and in many academic disciplines to describe a wide variety of things, such as [[person]]s, [[desire]]s, [[intention]]s, [[Choice|decisions]], policies, and institutions.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Mele2004a"/> Because of this variety in different contexts, it has proven difficult to give a unified definition covering all these fields and usages. In this regard, different fields often focus their investigation on one specific conception, type, or aspect of rationality without trying to cover it in its most general sense.<ref name="Rysiew2012"/>

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 and violating the laws of [[probability theory]] when assessing the likelihood of future events.<ref name="Harman2013"/> This article focuses mainly on irrationality in the academic sense.

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"/>