Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
[6]: 51–5, 698 His prime example of value-rational action was institutionalised rituals found in all societies: culturally prescribed but eternally legitimate ends. [6]: 467, 675–9, 717 [7] Rational humans pursue socially legitimate value-rational ends by using operationally efficient instrumental means.
In mathematics, "rational" is often used as a noun abbreviating "rational number". The adjective rational sometimes means that the coefficients are rational numbers. For example, a rational point is a point with rational coordinates (i.e., a point whose coordinates are rational numbers); a rational matrix is a matrix of rational numbers; a rational polynomial may be a polynomial with rational ...
(1) instrumentally rational (zweckrational), that is, determined by expectations as to the behavior of objects in the environment and of other human beings; these expectations are used as "conditions" or "means" for the attainment of the actor's own rationally pursued and calculated ends; (2) value-rational (wertrational), that is, determined ...
Values of trigonometric functions of rational multiples of π (except when undefined): for example, cos π / 7 , cos 3 π / 7 , and cos 5 π / 7 satisfy 8x 3 − 4x 2 − 4x + 1 = 0. This polynomial is irreducible over the rationals and so the three cosines are conjugate algebraic numbers.
Things are deemed to have instrumental value (or extrinsic value [2]) if they help one achieve a particular end; intrinsic values, by contrast, are understood to be desirable in and of themselves. A tool or appliance, such as a hammer or washing machine, has instrumental value because it helps one pound in a nail or clean clothes, respectively.
In mathematics, a rational function is any function that can be defined by a rational fraction, which is an algebraic fraction such that both the numerator and the denominator are polynomials. The coefficients of the polynomials need not be rational numbers ; they may be taken in any field K .
However, this usually ignores the human limitations of the mind. Given these limitations, various discrepancies may be necessary (and in this sense rational) to get the most useful results. [6] [12] [1] For example, the ideal rational norms of decision theory demand that the agent should always choose the option with the highest expected value ...
Rationalization (or rationalisation) is the replacement of traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society with concepts based on rationality and reason. [2] The term rational is seen in the context of people, their expressions, and or their actions.