Grice on reasoning

R. B. JONES was considering the approach to rationality in some recent work. Authors relying on Wason (the Wason number), or Johnson-Laird, don´t seem to be doing what they SHOULD be doing: viz., engage in philosophical analysis.

Rationality is a trick of a notion. I cherish Hamsphire, "Rationality is the opposite of disconnectedness", in "Thought and Action" -- quote me there! -- The topic fascinated all the members of the Play Group. They were INTO "reasons" of this or that sort. Grice´s fascination with this is most shining in his "Prejudices and predilections," where he goes on to want to elaborate on "ratio essendi", la raison d´etre, and not just of connaitre.

Just a consideration of the members of the Play Group should fill a book or two.

AUSTIN
GRICE, Aspects of reason
HAMPSHIRE
HARE, Reason and action.
NOWELL-SMITH
PEARS -- Motivated IR-rationality
STRAWSON
URMSON
WARNOCK, The object of morality: chapter on rationality

Not to mention Marcus Dick, Gardiner, Thompson, and many others.

This would yield a "notion of ´reasoning´" as was shared by the members of the Play Group. This is in contrast with Wittgensteinians, etc. For the Linguistic Botanists, "reason" shows in "reason why" and "reason to", and there´s the "reason" of Aristotle´s practical syllogism. And there´s the lack of reason in incontinentia, and there´s "rationality without reasons" (as per Judith Baker´s recent challenge in Mind, drawing from Grice´s distinction between thought-transition and propension).

With all the wealth of information that Ordinary Language provides us to elaboate on "reason" and its akin concepts ("infer", "validity", "therefore", "so", "must", "correct", etc.) one notes that, if Grice was primarily a philosopher THAT was what he was after -- as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had preceeded. Aristotle and Kant, in particular: he beloved "Ariskant", or "Kantotle".

Those looking for the evidence of a particular model of reason in this or that scenario are, if doing anything of philosophical interest, rather, following not Ariskant, but Plathegel. And in some cases it´s Kantotle striking back: for a cunning is a cunning of reason, after all!