more on this theme | more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
It would be a superhuman task just to write down an explicit, non-summary style, statement of the platitudes that capture our idea of what it is to be fully rational.
Gist of Idea
Capturing all the common sense facts about rationality is almost impossible
Source
Michael Smith (The Moral Problem [1994], 5.9)
Book Ref
Smith,Michael: 'The Moral Problem' [Blackwell 1994], p.163
A Reaction
Well said. Philosophers are inclined to make simplistic binary judgements about whether persons or animals are rational. A visit to YouTube will show fish acting extremely rationally.
Related Idea
Idea 22 Trained minds never expect more precision than is possible [Aristotle]