Those who have not been following the "Decolonization" debate may be surprised to learn that decolonizers characterize reason and rationality as cultural constructs that ought to be rejected, as these are said to be "Based upon epistemological assumptions deeply rooted in the Western philosophical tradition" and therefore "Perpetuate hegemonic thinking." The decolonizers argue that reason and rationality ought to yield to "Other ways of knowing" that are said to be derived from non-Western cultures.
This assault on reason and science is not a recent invention but is rooted in longer-running attempts to undermine the idea that there is an objective reality or that reality can be objectively analyzed.
Defenders of universal human reason do not suppose that people will always choose to follow the dictates of reason.
In Human Action, Ludwig von Mises explains: "The honest and conscientious truth-seekers have never pretended that reason and scientific research can answer all questions. They were fully aware of the limitations imposed on the human mind." Rothbard further explains: "It is not, of course, that Mises believes that men will always listen to reason, or follow its dictates; it is simply that, insofar as men act at all, they are capable of following reason."
Mises points out that the "Revolt against reason" is not driven, as claimed by its standard bearers, by apprehension that the pursuit of reason is predicated upon the omniscience of man.
As Rothbard explains in Economic Controversies, the science of human action is based on the nature of man as a being with free will and the ability to choose: "To ignore this primordial fact about the nature of man-to ignore his volition, his free will-is to misconstrue the facts of reality and therefore to be profoundly and radically unscientific." When polylogists deny that human beings share in common the ability to choose and deny that reason and rationality are essential attributes of human nature, they are rejecting both human nature and science as a discipline based on rational inquiry.
One of the gravest implications of this assault on reason and science is that it leaves people from different cultures with no foundation for cooperation and peaceful coexistence.
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