Rational reconstruction is a philosophical term with several distinct meanings. It is found in the work of Jürgen Habermas and Imre Lakatos.
Habermas
For Habermas, rational reconstruction is a philosophical and linguistic method that systematically translates intuitive knowledge of rules into a logical form. In other words, it is an approach to science and philosophy which attempts to put meanings into language properly. It is a type of formal analysis that makes explicit and systematizes the universal and inescapable conditions for the possibility of certain types of phenomena. Rational reconstruction explicates the deep generative structures that give rise to and allow for particular performances, behaviours, and other symbolically pre-structured realities. It is a procedure that is intimately tied to the interpretation of reality, and can deal with an extremely broad range of questions (but not all).
Habermas sees rational reconstruction as a task appropriate for philosophy. This mode of philosophical reflection can be compared to procedures traditionally taken up in philosophy and is concerned with the questions traditionally posed. These theorists approximated the ideal division of labor between philosophy and science that Habermas understands as crucial for progress to be achieved across disciplines; the human sciences in particular represent fertile ground for such cooperation.
Lakatos
Lakatos distinguishes between the "internal" and "external" history of science. Internal history focuses on normative concerns and the reasons scientists can be said to have for accepting or rejecting scientific theories according to some account of the logic of science. External history, on the other hand, focuses on the contingent non-rational factors that influenced the scientific process.
See also
- Communicative rationality
- Reflective equilibrium
- Universal pragmatics