Rational Defaultism

A bias that assumes one’s own conception of rationality is universal, self‑evident, and the only legitimate standard for reasoning. Rational defaultism treats alternative forms of reasoning (e.g., dialectical, intuitive, embodied, or culturally specific) as failures of rationality rather than different rationalities. It often appears in debates where one side accuses the other of being “irrational” without specifying criteria or acknowledging that rationality itself is contested. The defaultism lies in treating a particular historical and cultural product as the timeless standard of all thought.

Example: “He dismissed Buddhist logic as ‘nonsense’ because it allowed contradictions—rational defaultism, treating classical logic as the only form of reason.”

Rational Defaultism by Abzugal April 18, 2026