Rationalizing and social irrationality from a Kantian perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/dp.v22i3.100711Keywords:
Kant, rationalizing, social irrationality, irrationality, rationality, IdeologyAbstract
The present paper addresses the relation between, on the one hand, Kant’s concept of
rationalizing <Vernünfteln> and, on the other hand, the concept and phenomenon of social
irrationality understood in a Kantian perspective. More specifically, this work argues that one can
see in Kant’s concept of rationalizing, which is understood by Kant as a form of irrationality, a
source of social irrationality and, therefore, a conceptual tool that can help us to address the
phenomenon of social irrationality in our society. To accomplish task, this paper is divided in four
sections: an introduction (1), a definition of the concepts of irrationality and social irrationality
(2), an explanation of the essential characteristics of Kant’s concept of rationalizing as one can
find in Kant’s works and in the interpreters (3), and a demonstration of the usefulness of Kant’s
concept of rationalizing for understanding the sources of social irrationality in our society (4).
References
ALLISON, H. 2011. Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
GUYER, P. 2000. Kant on Freedom, Law, and Happiness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 1996a. An answer to the question: What is Enlightenment? [WA]. GREGOR, M. (Ed.) Practical Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 1996b. The Metaphysics of Morals [MS]. GREGOR, M. (Ed.) Practical Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 1996c. Toward perpetual peace [ZeF]. GREGOR, M. (Ed.) Practical Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 1997a. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals [GMS]. GREGOR, M. (Ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 1997b. Lectures on Ethics. HEATH, P.; SCHNEEWIND, J. B. (Eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 2000. Critique of the Power of Judgment [KU]. GUYER, P. (Ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 2007. Anthropology from a pragmatic point of view [Anth]. In: ZÖLLER, G.; LOUDEN, R. Anthropology, History, and Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 2012. Lectures on Anthropology. WOOD, A. W.; LOUDEN, R. B. (Eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KLEIN, J. T. 2023. Enlightenment as the normative principle of social rationality. In: Studia Kantiana, vol. 21, n. 1, 99-117.
KÖNIG, P. 2015. Vernünfteln. In Kant-Lexicon, eds. Marcus Willaschek, Jürgen Stolzenberg, Georg Mohr, Stefano Bacin, 969-973. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
PAPISH, L. 2018. Kant on Evil, Self-Deception, and Moral Reform. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
SHELL, S. 2009. Kant and the Limits of Autonomy. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
STICKER, M. 2017. When the Reflective Watch-Dog Barks Conscience and Self-Deception in Kant. In: Journal of Value Inquiry, 51(1), 85-104.
STICKER. 2021. Rationalizing (Vernünfteln). Elements in the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Eduardo de Oliveira da Costa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright for articles published in this journal belongs to the author, with first publication rights for the journal. Because of appearing in this public access journal, the articles are free to use, with terms of reference, in educational and non-commercial applications.
