MEANING
The quality of thinking or acting in accordance with reasons, evidence, or coherent goals.
Use it for
evaluating whether a decision follows stated reasons; distinguishing coherent choices from well-informed choices; examining the assumptions behind models of decision-makingSeparates reasoning guided by reasons or goals from mere confidence, and invites explicit standards for judging a decision. Academic functions: Theory / Conceptual Language.
Words that belong together
- bounded rationality
- instrumental rationality
- assumptions of rationality
On the page
The model assumes rationality but does not assume that every participant has complete information.
The essay distinguishes the rationality of a decision from the desirability of its consequences.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- rationality
Usage notes
Uncountable in general use. Rationalities is used for distinct systems of reasoning, not as an ordinary plural for sensible behavior. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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