jimrandomh comments on Beginning at the Beginning - Less Wrong

5 Post author: Annoyance 11 March 2009 07:23PM

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Comment author: jimrandomh 12 March 2009 02:37:25AM *  2 points [-]

HughRistik wrote:

Deductive rationality: When talking about the rationality of a deductive argument, we mean that the argument is valid (the conclusions follow from the premises), and we often also mean that the premises are true.

I disagree with giving rationality this definition. The word you have defined here is "sound". Having an untrue premise or having an invalid deductive step means that an argument is unsound, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's irrational. An argument may be rational but mistaken, provided (1) the argument was made in good faith, (2) reasonable effort (but not necessarily extensive effort) was put into avoiding mistakes like the one that was made, and (3) the argument is withdrawn when the error is pointed out.

Comment author: HughRistik 12 March 2009 06:28:44PM 3 points [-]

I'm trying to observe what people are using "rational" to mean. I agree with you that an argument can be rational even if the premises are false, as long as they are not known to be false by the arguer.