reason vs. rationalization

Steve Kinney admin at pilobilus.net
Sun Dec 4 20:43:39 PST 2016


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On 12/04/2016 09:42 PM, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> Here's a fine ("useful") distinction which jumps out this very
> day:
> 
> " Reason is slippery because language is. Reason can easily become 
> rationalization and discerning the difference is the task of true 
> philosophy. " Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson on Petre Tutea of Romania
> 
> http://www.dailystormer.com/the-orthodox-nationalist-the-thoughts-of-p
etre-tutea/

That's
> 
odd.  I thought the task of "true philosophy" was to evaluate
the internal consistency of logical statements, in a context where
physical evidence or relevance to material situations is not
considered.  Or is that mathematics?  The barrier between the two gets
a bit fuzzy when Goedel's work gets dragged in, proving that proofs
prove nothing.

Rationalization normally means arguing backward toward a preconceived
conclusion, in a process where logical contradictions and discarding
or misrepresenting physical data are permissible - usually to justify
or prove arbitrary and/or emotionally motivated propositions.  That
seems very much like philosophy to me.

On the other hand, the task of science is to test well defined
assertions about physical processes by attempting to falsify them with
observational data or experimental results contradicting those
assertions.  Where does hitching "reason" to the material world get
you?  Bang, zoom, to the Moon, Alice!

:o)





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