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From: laura@utcsstat.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: ity vs izing
Message-ID: <1370@utcsstat.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Nov-83 06:53:44 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsstat.1370
Posted: Thu Nov  3 06:53:44 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 3-Nov-83 09:46:26 EST
References: <416@houca.UUCP>
Organization: U. of Toronto, Canada
Lines: 36

I think that I live in a less clear-cut world than you do. If  you have any
suggestions on how to make it more clear-cut I would love to hear them; because
if they work, they will make my life a lot easier.

Note your suggestion on determining whether I am rationalising or being
rational. I am forced to conclude that you think that if I have to think
about a reason for doing things, I must be rationalising. This does not
quite work for me.

What did you have for breakfast? Why?

Now, there is some chance that you have thought about that question, but
a lot of people would have to answer "I ate cornflakes, because I always
eat cornflakes. I like cornflakes!". They may never have considered why they
eat cornflakes.

So are they rationalising? Would they be better off to say "Because it is
a truly American product and I want to support American Industry?" or
"Because it is too much trouble to think of anything else?" or "Because
my mother always fed me cornflakes?" or "becaues I want to?"

Nobody is going to have to justify his breakfast choice to me. But how am
I to know what is the "real" reason? Perhaps the "real" reason is some
combination of the above. Whatever it is, I had better have the ability
to discover the reason! And I could not tell you for certain why it is
that I ate toast for breakfast this morning.

If I have such a tough time with toast for breakfast -- how am I going
to handle more emotionally charged issues like how I feel about the
invasion of Grenada? or the death of a friend?

Without a more strict set of rules (or meta-rules for determining rules)
I am lost. Rationality remains a noble ideal that I can never attain.

Laura Creighton
utzoo!utcsstat!laura