Editing Rationality (section)

=== 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"/>