"The whole breadth of reason": A step towards rethinking economics and rationality

The paper, which acts as an introduction to the Special Issue devoted to "The whole breadth of reason", addresses the topic of economic rationality and discusses its strengths and weaknesses within an interdisciplinary perspective highlighting the relational dimension of agents and actions. Exiting the cage of homo economicus, we critically discuss both behavioral economics and neuro economics approaches, showing that they are not immune from limitations due to both dubious technical procedures and fragile epistemological foundations. When taking rational decision under structural uncertainty, human beings rely on default practices which are inherently developed and dynamically adapted within a community of concrete individuals; they also tend to provide persuasive justification of one's belief to other people. The paper concludes that rationality is a powerful tool, within a relational, dynamic, realistic and 'whole' anthropology. © 2012 Vita e Pensiero/Pubblicazioni dell'Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.