Max Weber
The German
sociologist Max Weber recommended an interpretation of social action that
differentiated between four different idealized types of rationality. The
first, which he called Zweckrational or purposive/instrumental rationality, is
connected to the beliefs about the behavior of other human beings or objects in
the environment.
The second
type, Weber called Wertrational or value/belief-oriented. Here the action is
taken on for what one might call reasons built-in to the actor: some ethical,
aesthetic, religious or other motive, independent of whether it will lead to
success.
The third
type was affectual, decided by an actor's specific affect, feeling, or emotion
– to which Weber himself said that this was a kind of prudence that was on the
borderline of what he believed "meaningfully oriented."
The fourth
was customary or conservative, determined by ingrained habituation. Weber
stressed that it was very odd to find only one of these orientations:
combinations were the standard. His practice also makes clear that he
considered the first two as more important than the others, and it is debatable
that the third and fourth are subtypes of the first two.
Psychology of Reasoning
In the
psychology of reasoning, psychologists and cognitive scientists have guarded
different positions on human rationality.
Richard Brandt
Richard
Brandt suggested a 'reforming definition' of rationality, arguing someone is
rational if their ideas survive a form of cognitive-psychotherapy.
Silvio Vietta
The German
cultural historian Silvio Vietta has revealed that rationality as a
quantitative mode of scientific thought was an invention of Greek philosophy, generally
of the Pythagorean School.
