pam-mentations.com

[Excerpt from my writing archives followed by a footnote.]

 …‘Rational’ not only indicates the right, correct, approved, reasonable, or sensible way of thinking, but also the term invariably means the right thinking and goodness of the author or speaker. Hence ‘rational’ also has moral connotations.^[1]

^[1]  Morally reprehensible people, on some conceptions, include those who allow themselves to be led by their hearts rather than reason, who could, and so ought to, make rational decisions, but are too lazy or self-interested to think matters through for themselves. Ironically, these reprehensible people are chastised for not listening to reason, aka listening to me or people I agree with — my reason. And those who think for themselves, intellectually curious and ambitious people who pride themselves on self-sufficiency, are also often thought, by some, reprehensible. I’ll be addressing the ‘do your homework, think for yourself/ don’t think for yourself, don’t do your homework’ dichotomy in chapter 3. 

    On the flip side, those who think with their hearts are often lauded as those who see the world as it truly is, and as it ought to be, the poets, the dreamers, spiritual leaders, and romantics. And some of those who think for themselves are ascribed the highest levels of praise, even while others who think for themselves are subject to mockery and condemnation. In fact, some of those we lionize for their intellectual independence were first mocked and condemned for their ideas.