The American attachment to firearms,which seems only to become stronger the more devastation they wreak on their society,is as good a proof as any that man is not,& will never be,a rational animal.He is guided by symbols,no less than his primitive ancestors on the African plain.
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Not every, no. But broadly speaking, a rational man is guided by reason the way a migrating bird is guided by its innate navigational sense.
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Nah it just means he has the capacity to reason, not that he'll ever use it
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If he doesn’t use it then he’s not rational, by definition.
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Hmm, if a man with two legs never walks, does it mean he doesn't have two legs?
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But the phrase ‘a rational man’ does not mean someone merely has the capacity to reason, it means he acts rationally. The same with ‘a cruel man’ or ‘a charming man’. These tell us about actual behaviour, not potential behaviour.
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Perhaps, I was using it in the Aristotelian sense, where it is defined by potential behaviour
End of conversation
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