Asking “Is it rational to X?” is a way of saying “I value rationality. Should I X?” The part of the title which is a question is equivalent, but the mention of rationality provides extra information about the author’s values. This would be clearer if the value statement and the question were split into separate sentences, but his meaning was clear enough.
I agree with Annoyance below. I value rationality. I also value other things. I think that it is true for some X that it is rational to X and I should not X, as it conflicts with things that I value more highly than rationality. I’d have to do some work to find an example, though.
This only makes sense if you think that “rational” only applies to a subset of your utilities. I can’t see how X could be “rational” to do if its negative utilities exceed the positives, using my definition of “rational”.
“Asking “Is it rational to X?” is a way of saying “I value rationality. Should I X?”″
No, it isn’t. That implication only exists in a greater context. The question itself asks only whether a certain action has a certain property, without bringing up ideas of value or desirability.
Asking “Is it rational to X?” is a way of saying “I value rationality. Should I X?” The part of the title which is a question is equivalent, but the mention of rationality provides extra information about the author’s values. This would be clearer if the value statement and the question were split into separate sentences, but his meaning was clear enough.
I agree with Annoyance below. I value rationality. I also value other things. I think that it is true for some X that it is rational to X and I should not X, as it conflicts with things that I value more highly than rationality. I’d have to do some work to find an example, though.
This only makes sense if you think that “rational” only applies to a subset of your utilities. I can’t see how X could be “rational” to do if its negative utilities exceed the positives, using my definition of “rational”.
“Asking “Is it rational to X?” is a way of saying “I value rationality. Should I X?”″
No, it isn’t. That implication only exists in a greater context. The question itself asks only whether a certain action has a certain property, without bringing up ideas of value or desirability.