Rationality and Unreflective Action. The Dreyfus-McDowell Debate

Abstract

The recent debate initiated by Hubert Dreyfus and John McDowell has called attention on the relation between rationality and unreflective action. In this paper I propose a form of specifying the disagreement between intellectualists and anti-intellectualists, as I will call them. In light of this proposal I argue that the main anti-intelectualist argument can only succeed if at least one of three implicit presuppositions is granted. These presuppositions are far from being self-evident and their truth is challenged by familiar phenomena. I finish with some remarks that suggest the intellectualist ends up in a better argumentative position.