Rationality in liberal philosophical theories

Abstract

This article suggests that rationality has to be treated as one of the basic categories of liberal philosophy. Together with freedom and equality, rationality lies at the anthropological core of liberalism, which makes it stand out among other political theories. The development of the main models of rationality relied upon by various liberal theories is reviewed.

Keywords

• rationality
• liberalism
• liberal egalitarianism
• communitarianism
• rational choice theory
• Kant’s philosophy