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There is a strong tradition among land‐use planners to conceive of their task as one of inserting rationality into public decision making. The idea of the rational selection of ends as well as means makes land‐use planners reluctant to take goals as given even if they insist on a difference between planning and politics. A retrospective outline shows how three prominent planning theorists handle the controversial question of rational ends. By applying Habermas’ communicative rationality and the bounded/unbounded distinction, the range of rationality concepts becomes sufficiently wide to serve as a basis for classifying most popular planning modes. With multiple forms of rationality, some new problems arise. How are we, for instance, to rationally choose among forms of rationality in a given situation, and how can the various forms be applied simultaneously?

In order to further optimize the methods of modern urban planning, the philosophical basis, planning theory, planning measures and practice are analyzed, and some discussions are made in connection with China's planning practice. The research results show that the core of modern urban planning is constructed by traditional rationalism with classical physics as its core. Urban planning is both a technology and a social science. Whether it is traditional or modern urban planning, it has been closely linked with the legal system since its birth. It is an important direction to promote the development of urban planning discipline. The most influential rational ideas of city planning are instrumental rationality, bounded rationality and communicative rationality. Instrumental rationality derives from rational comprehensive planning, systematic planning and procedural planning; the separation-gradualism and hybrid inspection model are developed under the influence of bounded rationality and are amendments to instrumental rationality; communication planning, collaborative planning and consultative planning are developed on the basis of communicative rationality, which is one of the important development directions at present.

This paper is concerned with enlarging the traditional view of rationality that has dominated management and planning in modern times. The inquiry begins by re‐examining Weber’s discussion of rationality as interpreted by contemporary analysts. Weber saw rationality as multi‐faceted and included notions of a social rationality involving more than simple instrumental or “practical” rationality. Habermas’ ideas concerning communicative action are then introduced as the basis for parsing out Weber’s differing conceptions of rationality based on the dual underlying motivations of pursuing social agreement along with technical or instrumental goals. In dialectical fashion, the paper introduces the concept of adaptive rationality involving a synthetic form of reason that mediates between substantive, or social, rationality and instrumental, or technical, rationality. This adaptive form of reason is seen as the heart of management and planning and requires a combined technical, political and moral imagination in the service of creating new forms of social practice and marshaling both the collective will and resources for their fulfillment. Thus, the paper argues for a wider conception of rationality that explicitly acknowledges social norms and the distribution of power and concludes with the hope of a renewed focus of research for a richer understanding of rational action.

This paper examines the prospects of developing rational policy processes. The approach taken is to examine two components of policy processes. First, the paper analyses the way in which rationality has been applied to three different models, or modes of public administration: Weberian bureaucracy; market or rational actor political behaviour; and managerialism. The analysis suggests that “rational” approaches to public administration are inherently value‐laden, emphasising norms such as institutional integrity, representation or efficiency. Second, analysis is undertaken of policy implementation which is one phase of the policy process. The paper examines “top‐down”, “bottom‐up”, institutional and statutory‐coherence approaches to policy implementation. Contrasts amongst these competing models of policy implementation reinforce previous findings that there appears to be little prospect of achieving policy rationality because of the inability of the current approaches to policy analysis to enable reconciliation of fundamental normative assumptions underpinning the approaches. The current methods utilised by policy analysts do not appear to be able to provide either the tools or the structures required to achieve instrumental rationality in policy sciences.

The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the assumptions regarding human behaviour in orthodox neoclassical economic theory. The orthodox neoclassical economic theory prescribes rational models of human behaviour, but the strictness of the criteria, developed to promote theoretical consistency and conceptual elegance, commonly fails to fully accommodate all of the empirical material. To save the core of the orthodox neoclassical economic theory research program and to neutralize and mute criticism regarding its predictive failures, its proponents engage in expedient theorizing, the expansion of the initial theoretical framework by adding ad hoc hypotheses and/or including additional explanatory factors; in many cases, dismissed as “unnecessary complications” (as in the case of morality and ethics – two conspicuously “non-economic” concepts) in the initial formulation of theoretical propositions of the core theories.

The paper reviews a body of heterogeneous literature to introduce and examine the use of expedient theorizing in economic thinking.

In the present case, the hyperrationalist axiom regarding the efficacy of calculative practices to maximize individual utility is accompanied by moralist concerns (and, by implication, corrective and disciplinary action) regarding the failure to adhere to such prescriptions. Expedient theorizing, thus, becomes a key mechanism in the political economy of truth that currently grants orthodox neoclassical economic theory significant authority to inform policy-making in substantial ways and considerable prestige.

The orthodox neoclassical economic theory constitutes the blueprint for policy-making and institutional change, and, therefore, the key economic ideas being the constitutive elements of the contemporary economy demand scholarly attention. The paper thus points at theoretical inconsistencies in the orthodox neoclassical economic theory and introduces the concept of expedient theorizing as its remedy.

Habermas’ concept of communicative rationality, in which reason is construed in terms of the noncoercive intersubjectivity of mutual understanding and reciprocal recognition, provides a valid foundation on which the theory and practice of selves‐directed learning can be developed. In an increasingly individualized world a focus on learning networks allows a perspective transformation from the purely individualistic instrumental rationality of self‐directed‐learning towards communicative interaction via learning encounters and the possibility of satisfying the emancipatory conditions of communicative rationality within communities of selves‐directed‐learners in life and work. The orientation of communicative action to criticizable validity claims which are open to empirical investigation is the central core that makes this learning process both theoretically and practically possible.

This paper seeks to understand administrative action, to know its deeper and excellent roots. Such roots, for the West, are based in the concept of reason and its derivatives.

Initially the paper presents the basic relationship between administrative action, organizational theories and its roots. It then develops an archaeological process of historical recovery of the concepts and ideas associated with the reason, and concludes by clearly pointing out the remaining challenge: the development of an administrative boarding that respects the human being per se and not as a recourse thing, at the same time making if possible for organizations reach their objectives.

Taking into consideration comparative traces of the diverse characteristics of organizational theories, this research has empirical findings which provide new comprehension and insights about the main product of any organization – people.

This paper presents a new view and a deep comprehension about the roles that people develop in an organization, particularly from an administrative focus.

Psychoactive substances take on many symbolic meanings, and thus the politics of psychoactive substances has featured symbolic elements, or value-based rationality, alongside and often dominating instrumental rationality. Drawing particularly on the work of Joseph Gusfield and Nordic scholars, the chapter considers the symbolic dimension in the politics of substance use, even in Nordic countries celebrated for their societal commitment to knowledge-based policymaking, and its effects on the interplay of science and policy.

This paper aims to review 69 studies related to Muslim consumer behavior and determine the relationship between these topics and Islamic rationality. In addition, this paper elaborates on Al-Ghazali’s Islamic rationality model.

A text analytics approach is used to map 69 studies on Muslim consumer behavior. In addition, the historical-critical and inductive approach is used to identify Muslim scholars’ concepts and opinions regarding Islamic rationality, especially Al-Ghazali.

This study confirms that Muslim consumer behavior is in line with the concept of Islamic rationality proposed by Al-Ghazali. This is evidenced by a strong awareness of Islamic morals and values, which fosters a high commitment to halal products.

The findings of this study will provide essential benefits in the development of Islamic rationality theory, which can then be used as an alternative in explaining Muslim consumer behavior and also can be used as a reference for stakeholders in the industry to mainstream halalfication on products offered in the Muslim market.

The value of originality in this study lies in identifying the relation between Islamic rationality and Muslim consumer behavior, and this effort was confirmed through 69 selected studies related to Muslim consumer behavior.