Rationality of ends in Rescher’s view

The relationship between rationality and morality is one of significant issues in philosophy that has been discussed since a long time ago. The spread of moral relativism and belief in instrumental rationality challenge this basic principle that nothing is given priority -or should be given priority- unless it has some merit to be prioritized. The present article is a research study on the philosophical attempts made by Nicholas Rescher to defend rationality of ends against instrumentalist views of rationality.

In this research study, besides data collection and extracting relevant information to the subject under study, research fiches were accurately made and then analyzed using comparative classification and thematic coding. The method of data extraction is library research and the analytic-argumentative method was used for inferring the results and answering the questions.

Rescher believes that inattention to rationality of evaluation results in an impaired understanding of rationality and leads to part/whole fallacy. To him, rationality is of three types: rationality of beliefs, rationality of actions, and rationality of evaluations. In addition to having an instrumental aspect, rationality of actions also includes an evaluative aspect that determines the appropriateness of ends. The comprehensive concept of rationality coordinates and integrates these two aspects in a coherent manner. Although Rescher acknowledges the importance of the gap between reality and value, he believes that this gap can be overcome via appealing to self-evident truths without necessarily adopting an instrumentalist view towards rationality. In Rescher’s view, having a relativist view towards rationality is logically impossible. By demonstrating the aims and fundamental principles of rationality, he argues that rationality is universal. At the same time, by introducing a normative hierarchy to obtain a rational solution for a specific problem in a real-life situation, he acknowledges that rational decisions do depend on situational conditions. In other words, he recognizes that rational relativism is inevitable in the lower levels of the normative hierarchy. Despite Rescher’s accuracy and deliberation in presenting ends rationality and overcoming many challenges in this regard, there are various arguments on serious components of his conception that need further reflection.

According to Rescher’s view, since all virtues are not equal and comparable, their achievement requires optimization that is making a balance between means or instruments for achieving ends in the best way so it simultaneously concerns efficiency and teleology. If rationality requires the optimization of incomparable and contradictory virtues to reach self-actualization, moral virtues should be combined with nonmoral virtues to get balanced. Therefore, the inconsistency between rationality and unconditionally general moral values and obligation to an absolute moral system becomes evident. Rescher’s definition of humanity and existential commitment to understanding oneself are among other controversial subjects Rescher should attribute people’s moral disagreements either to irrationality or oddness of some individuals and deny moral and rational disagreement among people; while it is improbable. Based on the findings of the current research, some of the elements of Rescher’s conception of rationality such as optimization, humanity, existential commitment to understanding oneself, and the relationship between reality and value are subject to serious challenges and criticisms. In this article, we will discuss these challenges and criticisms thoroughly. Ultimately, we are going to demonstrate that Rescher’s conception of rationality with its broad and novel perspective has set the stage for further philosophical and moral deliberations.