This book attempts to evaluate the challenges to rationality by examining its different interpretations and by trying to establish which, if any, of these provides an understanding which makes a life of reason clearly desirable. Nathanson's conclusion is that while critics of rationality are wrong to reject it, they are correct in rejecting some very influential conceptions of rationality. Although "The Ideal of Rationality" deals with crucial philosophical issues in a rigorous manner, it aims to be accessible to a wide audience. It therefore provides an introduction to current philosophical debates about rationality. Professor Nathanson examines and criticises the classical conception of rationality, derived from Plato, in the light of ideas which emerge from a scrutiny of two novels by John Barth, "The End of the Road" and "The Floating Opera". After analysing such conspicuous rational values as deliberation, objectivity, knowledge and truth, Nathanson concludes that classical rationalists have over-valued purely cognitive activities, while ignoring other important aspects of human life, and he defends William James's thesis that practical benefits can provide reasons for belief.
Different notions of rationality - such as the means-end conception, hedonism, and the "evil-avoidance" view - are examined and rejected, in favour of the theory that to act rationally is to "act for the best", a theory Nathanson characterises as "critical pluralism". Among present-day philosophers discussed are Richard Brandt, Bernard Gert, Gilbert Harman, John Kekes, Robert Nozick, and John Rawls. This is a revised, updated and expanded version of the work which appeared in 1985. Nathanson's revisions include discussions of relativism and scepticism.