Rational Fools or Foolish Rationalists? Bringing Meaning Back In

The idea of rationality is discussed in its relevance for the understanding and for the explanation of social action. Social action is here conceptualized as being meaningful and not as bieng, somehow, rational. The idea of "rational fools" as the subjects of game theoretical models is derived from Amartya Sen and the use of its concept of "meta-preferences" is here discussed as a way to overcome the simplified conceptualization of rationality in action theory.