Rationalism, Government Ethics and Differential Information Rationalism

Rationalism, Government Ethics and Differential Information

Rationalism in Politics and how it Impacts the Public's View of Government Services.

Rationalism is the belief that reason as the only legitimate basis for knowledge and that reason is perfect and absolute (Greanleaf, 1968, p. 99). Since reason is absolute and perfect, historical and social experience has little or no meaning for a rationalist. Consequently, rationalism in politics is always "charged with the feeling of the moment" (Oakeshott, Rationalism in politics, 1994, p. 6), a series of crises that can be solved by perfect reason and each administration supposedly has infinite possibility in front of it (Oakeshott, 1994, p. 6). Since there is a perfect answer, there is only one answer and there is no place for a variety of answers that could be good or better; only best (Oakeshott, 1994, p. 6). Therefore, a rationalist cannot accept individualism. For a rationalist, the only knowledge is technical knowledge and that can be learned from a book or from a correspondence course (Oakeshott, 1994, p. 9). The rationalist considers himself/herself to be "self-made," with little or no regard for experience outside of his/her own. This is illusory, as each of us is a product not only of reason but also of society and historical inheritance (Oakeshott, 1994, p. 10).

This Rationalism impacts the public's view of government services in that it does not recognize the importance of those services and their contributions to society. Believing that he/she is a "self-made" man/woman, even if the rationalist has been helped by government services, he/she will fail to recognize their social benefit. For example, actor Craig T. Nelson argued against government services by stating, "I've been on Food Stamps and Welfare. Anybody help me out? No" (Anonymous, 2009). In one breath, Mr. Nelson mentioned two ways in which he was helped by government services but also insisted that nobody helped him; he's supposedly a "self-made" man and does not believe in government services.

Government Ethics and Differential Information.

Differential information is diverse or distinct knowledge, as when one person/entity knows more about a specific area than another person/entity knows (Wrigley & McKevitt, 1994, p. 74). For example, a doctor who has differential information in his/her favor in that he/she knows more about medicine than a layperson knows and the doctor's information cannot easily be transferred to the layperson, Due to that differential information, once a layperson has chosen a doctor, he/she must rely on that doctor to decide the type of treatment, the quality of treatment and the quantity of treatment in order to cure the layperson's illness (Wrigley & McKevitt, 1994, p. 75). Also, if the doctor makes a mistake, the doctor might lose income but the layperson might lose his life, so there is an imbalance in the effects of a mistake. Consequently, the doctor provides medical treatment and the agent of the layperson. This dual responsibility is important because society does not want the doctor to just make a profit as the medical provider; it also wants the doctor to enhance the well-being of the layperson (Wrigley & McKevitt, 1994, p. 75).