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From: bch@unc.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: rationality in a lifeboat
Message-ID: <5690@unc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Aug-83 02:08:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: unc.5690
Posted: Thu Aug 11 02:08:19 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Aug-83 14:02:32 EDT
References: houti.377
Lines: 13

Tom, I'm sorry.  I haven't the faintest idea what you are carrying on (at
length) about.  Saying that a person, or argument, or idea is rational says
only that it is derived by reason.  Derived from what?  Clearly, if you are
proceeding from erroneous assumptions you can be a "perfectly rational"
person but can make decisions which viewed from a more global standpoint are
stupid as h-ll!  In this case, since your assumptions are unstated or do not
appear to me to be rationally derived, I find your argument entirely irra-
tional.  (This is not meant to be a cheap shot, but a self-referential case
where a differing set of assumptions causes an entire line of thinking to
be deemed irrational.)

						Byron Howes
						UNC - Chapel Hill