DIE DEUTSCHE PHILOSOPHISCHE TRADITION MITTEN INS HERZ TREFFEN

Abstract

The opposition between rational and irrational behavior does pose difficulties in understanding: what is meant by “irrational” behavior or thought? Perhaps a behavior that adheres predominantly to emotions and does not arise from reflection can be considered irrational, but can we say that emotional reactions or intuitions are irrational attitudes? Certainly the rational/irrational distinction is a blurred and a hardly understandable border: what does reason do if not to pursue the same aims of instincts, if not to pursue these aims with slower and more mediated strategies with respect to the impulses of emotions? Similarly, precisely the goals that are pursued rationally and through long reflection can be, according to other points of view, completely irrational, if not worse.