عقلانیت اهداف از دیدگاه نیکلاس رشر

فلسفه رشر دفاع از عقلانیت اهداف در برابر عقلانیت ابزاری است. رشر عدم توجه به جامعیت مفهوم عقلانیت را موجب درک ناقصی از عقلانیت می‌داند. عقلانیت عملی علاوه بر جنبه ابزاری، جنبه ارزش‌شناختی دارد که مناسب بودن اهداف را تعیین می‌کند و این دو مولفه به صورتی منسجم و هماهنگ درهم آمیخته‌اند. رشر شکاف بین واقعیت و ارزش را مهم می‌داند و برآن است که با گام کوتاه بدیهیات می‌توان از آن گذر کرد. با غیر منطقی دانستن نسبی‌گرایی و اثبات عقلانیت اهداف و اصول بنیادی عقلانیت به جهانی بودن عقلانیت اصرار می‌ورزد. وی با معرفی سلسله مراتب هنجاری برای انتخاب یک راه حل عقلانی در یک موقعیت معین، وابسته بودن تصمیم‌های عقلانی به محیط پیرامونی، نیز نسبیت عقلانیت در لایه‌های پایینی را می‌‌پذیرید. در پژوهش حاضر بعضی از ارکان نظریه رشر: بهینه‌سازی، مفهوم آدمیت، تعهد وجودی به درک نفس و رابطه واقعیت و ارزش مورد نقد قرار گرفته است.

rationality of ends in rescher’s view

introduction: the relationship between rationality and morality isone of significant issues in philosophy that has been discussed since along time ago. the spread of moral relativism and belief ininstrumental rationality challenge this basic principle that nothing isgiven priority -or should be given priority- unless it has some merit tobe prioritized. the present article is a research study on thephilosophical attempts made by nicholas rescher to defend rationalityof ends against instrumentalist views of rationality.method: in this research study, besides data collection andextracting relevant information to the subject under study, researchfiches were accurately made and then analyzed using comparativeclassification and thematic coding. the method of data extraction islibrary research and the analytic-argumentative method was used forinferring the results and answering the questions.findings: rescher believes that inattention to rationality ofevaluation results in an impaired understanding of rationality andleads to part/whole fallacy. to him, rationality is of three types:rationality of beliefs, rationality of actions, and rationality ofevaluations. in addition to having an instrumental aspect, rationality ofactions also includes an evaluative aspect that determines theappropriateness of ends. the comprehensive concept of rationalitycoordinates and integrates these two aspects in a coherent manner.although rescher acknowledges the importance of the gap betweenreality and value, he believes that this gap can be overcome viaappealing to self-evident truths without necessarily adopting aninstrumentalist view towards rationality. in rescher’s view, having arelativist view towards rationality is logically impossible. bydemonstrating the aims and fundamental principles of rationality, heargues that rationality is universal. at the same time, by introducing anormative hierarchy to obtain a rational solution for a specificproblem in a real-life situation, he acknowledges that rationaldecisions do depend on situational conditions. in other words, herecognizes that rational relativism is inevitable in the lower levels ofthe normative hierarchy. despite rescher’s accuracy and deliberationin presenting ends rationality and overcoming many challenges in thisregard, there are various arguments on serious components of hisconception that need further reflection.conclusion: according to rescher’s view, since all virtues are notequal and comparable, their achievement requires optimization that ismaking a balance between means or instruments for achieving ends inthe best way so it simultaneously concerns efficiency and teleology. ifrationality requires the optimization of incomparable andcontradictory virtues to reach self-actualization, moral virtues shouldbe combined with nonmoral virtues to get balanced. therefore, theinconsistency between rationality and unconditionally general moralvalues and obligation to an absolute moral system becomes evident.rescher’s definition of humanity and existential commitment tounderstanding oneself are among other controversial subjects reschershould attribute people’s moral disagreements either to irrationality oroddness of some individuals and deny moral and rationaldisagreement among people; while it is improbable. based on thefindings of the current research, some of the elements of rescher’sconception of rationality such as optimization, humanity, existentialcommitment to understanding oneself, and the relationship betweenreality and value are subject to serious challenges and criticisms. inthis article, we will discuss these challenges and criticisms thoroughly.ultimately, we are going to demonstrate that rescher’s conception ofrationality with its broad and novel perspective has set the stage forfurther philosophical and moral deliberations.