Abstract
Administrative actions and processes are seen as part of a post-rational era, in which rationality has become a misunderstood word, and rational action is commonly associated with scientism and technocracy. We assume that this stereotype may have a background of truth, but it is actually based on a fundamental misunderstanding that we attempt to clarify. Thus, the objective of this theoretical essay is to revisit the concept of reason, which is at the foundation of social science, based on the argument that ‘reason’ is one and indivisible, defined here as “lucid reason.” After discussing the classical conception of reason and its trans-valuation to the modern period, we provide the basis for elucidating the following question: how can someone formulate a reason of praxis, capable of guiding their praxis along an entire rational procedure? We suggest that the answer lies in the lucid reason, which consists of the unity between prudence (phrónesis), guided by a contextual and instrumental logic, and intentions, based on reason in its substantive sense. From this concept we can understand the tension experienced in organizations, inherent to the life of reason, through a parenthetic attitude. We conclude that reason as a human characteristic is unique, and likewise, the discussion of rationality in the context of organizations must also be guided by the non-literal separation between two or more rationalities, recognizing administrative action as rational, in its singular sense, with the multiple faculties that compose it.
Keywords:
Reason; Rationality; Administration; Praxis; Phrónesis
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