Difference between revisions of "Rationality"

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(decided this should be a separate page from the -ism)
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#redirect [[rationalism]]
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==Overview==
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[[category:concepts]][[Rationality]] is the quality of being [[rational]].
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It is difficult to define terms like [[rationality]] ([[rational]], [[rationalism]]) and [[reason]] ([[reasonable]], [[reasonableness]], [[reasoning]]) without ending up in a [[circular definition]], as we do not yet have a good understanding of how [[intelligence]] – i.e. that quality which allows entities to reason – functions. It is much easier to identify specific examples that are ''not'' rational (and to explain why they are not) than it is to give a set of rules by which rationality can be identified.
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Obtaining this understanding is one of the major goals of the study of [[artificial intelligence]], since the best way to recreate something artificially is to understand how it works.

Revision as of 21:13, 10 June 2008

Overview

Rationality is the quality of being rational.

It is difficult to define terms like rationality (rational, rationalism) and reason (reasonable, reasonableness, reasoning) without ending up in a circular definition, as we do not yet have a good understanding of how intelligence – i.e. that quality which allows entities to reason – functions. It is much easier to identify specific examples that are not rational (and to explain why they are not) than it is to give a set of rules by which rationality can be identified.

Obtaining this understanding is one of the major goals of the study of artificial intelligence, since the best way to recreate something artificially is to understand how it works.