Concept of Rationality in Alasdair MacIntyre’s Dependent Rational Animal and Whose Justice Which Rationality?

Abstract

Time and again, we are confronted with the dilemma of evaluating human conduct. The preceding is realized guided by the comprehension that man is a rational being, thus, ought to conduct himself in a manner that befits the character of a reasonable entity. The notion of a reasonable human being is here to be understood from the perspective of posing the question, what would someone else do in such a scenario? The preceding merely implies someone of ordinary prudence and not a superhuman. The core argument of this paper is that unreasonableness leads to social-holistic disorder, thus, a redefinition would suffice. To look into the problematic nature herein, the paper employed hermeneutics coupled with analytical (analytical hermeneutics). The paper associates itself with the social system theory. Having delved into the foregoing aspects of this paper, it was realized that, the idea of a reasonable person of ordinary prudence in a given circumstance, seems to be misunderstood with the doctrine of truth. Thus, the paper as a way forward argues for a keen distinction for a proper comprehension between the usage of ordinary prudence and truth in the realm of morality.