Beiträge zur allgemeinen Theorie der Rationalität

Raymond Boudon addresses one of the most important questions in social science: How can social phenomena, understood as a product of human behavior, be explained in a satisfactory manner? And how to explain phenomena that appear spontaneously as »irrational« - e.g. rain dance and religious beliefs? The author argues that social theory finds itself in a deep crisis and the classic rational choice theory and its notion of instrumental rationality have not been able to keep their promises. Boudon develops a »general theory of rationality«, which expands the notion of rationality by a cognitive and an axiological dimension. Thus, social phenomena are always the product of subjectively strong and objectively comprehensible reasons for individuals to believe in certain things and to do certain things. Beliefs and actions that appear spontaneously as irrational thus emerge as strongly rational.