Are rationalists also ‘economic rationalists’?
No! Rationalism in our sense must be distinguished from ‘economic rationalism’, which many of us would see as not rational at all. Economic rationalism is a term applied originally by Michael Pussey of the Australian National University to characterise economic policies that focussed purely on monetary worth as a measure of value, without taking into account social and moral considerations, such as issues of fairness, justice or equality. In other words, it is ‘the view that commercial activity…represents a sphere of activity in which moral considerations, beyond the rule of business probity dictated by enlightened self-interest, have no role to play’. (Quiggin, John ‘Economic rationalism’, Crossings, 2(1), 1997, pg 3-12) Most rationalists in our sense would believe that issues of fairness, justice or equality should be taken into account in designing economic policies.
