| Article Index |
|---|
| A call to rationalists |
| Who is a Rationalist? |
| What does a Rationalist do? |
| Science and Rationality |
| A Call |
| All Pages |
Who is a Rationalist?
Man is an animal, but he has one special prerogative—rational thought. Rational thought is reasoning power and argument. Now, reasoning power is there in dogs and cats as well. Suppose a dog comes up to you and you shoo him away, he’ll understand. The dog will understand that you don’t want him. So, he has some reasoning power. But what is the special reasoning power of the human being?
As far as the bodily necessities are concerned, reasoning power is there even in the animal. If a cat wants to steal some milk from your kitchen, she has very nice reasoning power: she is always waiting to see when the master goes out and she can drink the milk. So, for the four propensities of animal life—eating, sleeping, mating and defending—there is reasoning power even in beasts. Then, what is the special reasoning power of the human being, by which he is called “the rational animal”?