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rationality - 5 dictionary results

ra⋅tion⋅al⋅i⋅ty

  [rash-uh-nal-i-tee]
Use rationality in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the state or quality of being rational.
2. the possession of reason.
3. agreeableness to reason; reasonableness.
4. the exercise of reason.
5. a reasonable view, practice, etc.
Origin:
1560–70; < LL ratiōnālitās reasonableness. See rational, -ity
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ra·tion·al·i·ty   (rāsh'ə-nāl'ĭ-tē)   
n.   pl. ra·tion·al·i·ties
  1. The quality or condition of being rational.
  2. A rational belief or practice.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rationality

Ra`tion*al"i*ty\, n.; pl. -ties. [F. rationalit['e], or L. rationalitas.] The quality or state of being rational; agreement with reason; possession of reason; due exercise of reason; reasonableness.

When God has made rationality the common portion of mankind, how came it to be thy inclosure? --Gov. of Tongue.

Well-directed intentions, whose rationalities will never bear a rigid examination. --Sir T. Browne.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Main Entry: ra·tio·nal·i·ty
Pronunciation: "rash-&-'nal-&t-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
1 : the quality or state of being rational
2 : the quality or state of being agreeable to reason
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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rationality

in philosophy, the faculty or process of drawing logical inferences. The term "reason" is also used in several other, narrower senses. Reason is in opposition to sensation, perception, feeling, desire, as the faculty (the existence of which is denied by empiricists) by which fundamental truths are intuitively apprehended. These fundamental truths are the causes or "reasons" of all derivative facts. According to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, reason is the power of synthesizing into unity, by means of comprehensive principles, the concepts that are provided by the intellect. That reason which gives a priori principles Kant calls "pure reason," as distinguished from the "practical reason," which is specially concerned with the performance of actions. In formal logic the drawing of inferences (frequently called "ratiocination," from Latin ratiocinari, "to use the reasoning faculty") is classified from Aristotle on as deductive (from generals to particulars) and inductive (from particulars to generals).

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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